EARLY suggestions are that the Tall Ships Race could attract tens of millions of pounds to the Aberdeen region when the ships arrive on July 19, 2025.
Estimates suggest that with 50 world class vessels sailing in all their beauty into Aberdeen’s North Harbour as the Race returns after a gap of 32 years, this will mean as many as 2,000 crew members plus 400,000 spectators – numbers that would fill Pittodrie 20 times over or over 300 that of Aberdeen Music Hall’s capacity.
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As Project Manager of the event, Emma Wadee is tasked with ensuring it’s smooth sailing for the event. With experience as Project Manager for the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow and across Scotland last year, Emma is no stranger to organising large-scale events.
She commented: “It’s astronomical what the impacts can be. (The Tall Ships Race) was a huge success in the 90s. We want to build on that (and) ensure we do something of the same scale that people talk about in the future with fond memories.”
“I can see that already in Aberdeen, the number of people that are already involved in bringing Tall Ships next year, right the way through from the partnership with Aberdeen City Council, Port of Aberdeen and Aberdeen Inspired that actually were successful in winning the bid to bring Tall Ships back because we know how important it is to Aberdeen, to the North-east, to bring tall ships back.”
Despite not being local to the North-east, Emma is under no illusions about the excitement of the races for the region.
“It weighs heavily on my shoulders. It’s a huge responsibility.
“My very first visit that I had to Aberdeen, I actually went to the Fittie Bar in the evening after spending the day with some of my colleagues in the Tall Ships team and the number of people that talked to me about their memories of the 90s was unbelievable.
“That has carried through in the months that I’ve been on the event working here.
“It’s a huge, huge privilege to be in this role because this event is so unique with opportunities that come with it.
“I’ve never worked on an event where there is such an opportunity to involve everybody from the local businesses, the community volunteers, young people, it’s a huge vehicle for everybody to get involved in something so exciting for the whole of the North-east.”
The races were first in Aberdeen in 1991, just six years before they docked again in the city. By next year, however, it will be 28 years since their last appearance.
“It’s far too long since they were here the last time and it’s a real opportunity for the whole of the North-east to work together to celebrate the Tall Ships event, to maximise opportunities for an event of this scale.”
Enthusing the community before the ships hit the shores is a key task facing Emma.
“This isn’t just the city, it’s right across the whole of the North-east,” she said.
“The tall ships it really is a unique event where everybody can get involved.
“There’s a huge community aspect to it and a huge feeling of celebration, particularly for Aberdeen. The maritime heritage, the links in with actual sailing vessels and the history of what Aberdeen has actually been a leader in in the past, and it looks like good to be a leader in the future.”
“What we want to do as the Tall Ships team is open the door, help with ideas, help with support in building the different aspects of the event, but really, it’s an open door.
“We want people to be creative, we want people to approach us with ideas and then we can signpost from there.”
Plans are in place for marquees, trader stands, food and drink stands, crafters, exhibitions and much more to be present at the races.
“The only thing that will be really operational other than the 50 majestic Tall Ships in the North Harbour will be North Link ferry.
“There’ll be stages, there’ll be space for artists, there will be lots of different things going on at the harbour and a main stage on the quayside too.”
But it’s not only the harbour that’ll be consumed by Tall Ships fever.
“One of the most exciting things is, because we don’t have too much space on the quayside for activations, we’re going to have a big welcome entrance coming down Marischal Street at the end of Union Street.
“We’re going to use an area in the Castlegate for a discovery zone, which will be a youth-centric area, lots of STEM activities to come and try.
“What that actually will do is connect the event right into the city centre. We’re going to be connected into where all the hotels are, the restaurants, the bars, the shops, and connect it all together.
“It will really help support us to be bolstered with all these different activities and activations through the city.
“We can have shop windows decorated with Tall Ships, memorabilia, and really showcase how the whole entire of Union Street, as an example, is connected right into the entrance of the events.”
The Tall Ships team will also be going into schools from as early as August as they drum up excitement for people of all ages.
The four days of the event will no doubt be the biggest, and while Emma and her team are ramping up preparations hundreds of days in advance, they’re acutely aware of the huge opportunity awaiting Aberdeen should all go to plan.
“It isn’t just the four days of the event,” Emma said.
“We’re bringing visitors from our area, across Aberdeenshire, we’re bringing them from all over Scotland, hopefully national, hopefully international. We want them to do more than just spend four days on the quayside looking at the ships.
“How do we really showcase Aberdeen? How do we get people to come back? I think that’s a big ambition of what the Tall Ships event can do.”
The North Harbour and some fortunate onlookers got a sneak peek of the Tall Ships last year when three arrived in Aberdeen.
Emma hopes 50 or more will be docking next year, and early indications are looking positive.
“The captains of the ships are particularly excited about coming to Aberdeen,” she said.
“They remember the Port of Aberdeen is a commercial place they’ve visited before. It’s world renowned as a great port to visit in terms of facilities for ships.”
“[The ships] are really unique and they are crewed differently as well.
“The international crews are the most vibrant, diverse, amazingly colourful, wonderfully musically interesting, crews that are going to be visiting us.
“We’re going to have between 1,500 and 2,000 international crew members staying with us for four days.
“We want to give an amazing Scottish welcome to the crews that are visiting and to the visitors that make the effort to come to Aberdeen to spend time with us.”
