Once this area was full of timber, fish crates, oil barrels and sailing ships. Now it's containers, freight and industry. But this week, Kristiansand Port will reopen to sailing ships completely and become the city's largest and most popular meeting place.
Tall Ships Races 2025 fills the harbor basin with sailing ships, music, shanty songs and young people from all over the world. At the same time, much of the heavy operation that goes on quietly behind the fences on a daily basis is stopped. It is not only a change in what you see – it is also a moment to experience what a harbor really is: a meeting place, engine room and memories, all at once.
From logistics to life – how much space does it require?
During the Tall Ships Races 2025, the entire Lagmannsholmen will be used for something completely different than usual. Where it is normally unloaded and loaded, it is now being set up with stages, sailing ships and audience areas. Over 1200 meters of quay are filled with ships from all corners of the world, and on Lagmannsholmen alone, all 702 quay meters are filled with ships. There is around 71 acres of back area, equivalent to 10 football fields, which has been converted into a festival area.
A total of 1728.55 meters of ships are in the harbor basin, and with them are crews of over 1100 people. Many are young, many are first-time sailors, all part of something bigger: a living tradition in the process of being passed on to the next generation.
Maybe a future sailor is standing on the quay and is inspired right here?
When we clear space, someone has to step aside
It is important to know that this public festival does not take place in a vacuum. The port is usually full of activity. Containers, water, metal, goods, industrial products are handled here, often around the clock. And it is not only the port that notices that something is different this week. Companies such as Seafront, Elkem, Glencore, VOSS Vann and JAS Worldwide have to pause operations for several days. Daily ship calls with several hundred containers per ship are now being put on hold or rerouted to other destinations in the Oslofjord. The income follows the containers, and the companies feel it well.
"We have to adapt, but we do it because we know how important this event is for the city and because the cooperation with the harbor has been close and orderly. But it comes with a significant cost" - Kjetil Hansen, General Manager, Seafront.
It's an investment. In the city's outward appearance. In sharing the coastline with more people. In reminding people where things really come from and how important the harbor still is, even in a digital age.
"With roots back to the sailing ship era in Norway, we are used to adapting. The international character that Tall Ships Races gives also reflects our own activity as a global player in transport, shipping and logistics, with the whole world as a market area. We see a week's investment in re-cabling for Kristiansand and the Tall Ships Races as a valuable contribution to the city, the port, the participants and JAS". - Erik Lia, Branch Manager, JAS Worldwide Kristiansand.
A port that is in use and changing
Lagmannsholmen and Caledonien are not just backdrops for ship festivals. They are the very backbone of much of what makes Kristiansand a connected, safe and functioning region. Goods are shipped out into the world from here. Water for boats comes from here, industrial raw materials come in, and everything from chemicals and metals to general cargo and machine parts is handled here.
During this year's Tall Ships Races, a full 702 metres of this fully developed quay frontage will be in use, filled to the brim with vessels, crew, spectators and events. Normally this area is reserved for 24/7 operations. Now it has been opened up to the entire city.
But soon this landscape will change.
In the transition period 2026/27, the relocation process will begin, which will free up large parts of the current port areas close to the city center for new urban development. First up is the container terminal, which will be moved from Lagmannsholmen to the new port area on Kongsgård /Vige. A modern terminal with 531 meters of quay is now being established here, divided into Pier 35 (144 meters) and Pier 36 (387 meters), with deep-water access and spacious areas adapted to efficient, future-oriented and more environmentally friendly operations.
The move marks the start of a new era for the Port of Kristiansand, where heavy, space-intensive port activity is being pulled out of the city center and concentrated in an area with capacity and flexibility for the future. This also gives the city a historic opportunity to develop attractive residential, commercial and cultural areas right on the waterfront.
Therefore, this year's Tall Ships Races is not only a celebration of the maritime, it is also a symbolic farewell to an era.
Here, retired sailors may get a glimpse of the quay area they know. Here, young people on the lookout may get a glimpse of another possible future. Here, we all get the opportunity to see the city and the harbor from a new angle. In the middle of what is usually closed and reserved.
Behind the party and the flag – a puzzle of precision
Every ship's side, every scene and every song is meticulously planned. The port's people have spent months creating a puzzle that works: Who will stay where? What needs to be moved? How will we get people back and forth safely, while maintaining safety and structure?
This is where we really get to show what the harbor is good for. Not just as an engine room for business, but as a flexible arena for large meetings – between city and boat, past and future, youth and veterans.
