When more than 300 ships sail along the river Elbe, it can only mean one thing: It’s the Port Anniversary! The world’s greatest port festival in Hamburg attracts over a million visitors every year. For three days, everything here is dedicated to the world of shipping, so that both young and old seamen can enjoy a great time. For there is a lot to discover: Starting with around 300 vessels, many of which can be visited on board, through grand arrival and departure parades to the popular tugboat ballet, there is a lot happening on the river Elbe.
Also ashore visitors can find a colourful hustle and bustle: Between fish market, Landungsbrücken and HafenCity there is a folk festival atmosphere. The harbour mile offers a mixture of markets, fun rides and numerous stages and also provides the best view of the docked ships. At the same time, it is the starting point for round trips and accompanying tours, which for many visitors are simply part of the Hamburg Port Anniversary.
A fixed part of this event is the departure parade of the cruise ships on Saturday evening, which is opened with the big AIDA fireworks. Since 2012 it is staged by Potsdamer Feuerwerk and for us it is still one of the absolute highlights in our calendar. A special challenge for these fireworks is clearly the meticulous coordination and communication with all authorities, the representatives of the city of Hamburg and the main sponsor AIDA as well as all technical departments on site. This is the only way the fireworks can take place as planned in the evening sky over the departing ocean liners of AIDA Cruises. Occasionally, our equipment is also allowed to catch a breath of sea air and go on a trip. With waterfalls at the bow, technical fireworks effects and countless tons of laser & light equipment, we have already been able to integrate several ships into the show, providing multiple cover pictures and features in the press.
For radio and television, a quick glimpse behind the scenes of the fireworks is always exciting. Teams from the NDR (North German Broadcasting Corporation) regularly visit us during the setup of our fireworks display. Our pyrotechnicians explain all the effects and our ignition technology in detail. The fireworks itself is broadcasted by AIDA in a livestream as well as on NDR television for everyone at home and reaches several million people at the screens.
• Production: Potsdamer Feuerwerk Vertriebs GmbH
• Project Management: Björn Wilhelm
• Pyro-Design: Thomas Schenkluhn
• Laser-Design: Andreas Kämpfe
• Light-Design: Denny Arndt
• Ignition technology: Galaxis Pyrotec Advanced Serie
• Photos & Videos: Jan Schugardt, Elena Gesch