Tallinn deputy mayor Vadim Belobrovtsev noted that the decision to postpone the event was a difficult one. "We were hoping until the final moment that this year's Tall Ships Races regatta would still take place in its regular and spectacular manner. But we were forced as one of the host cities to make the difficult decision due to coronavirus restrictions and the continuing spread of the virus to delay the event to 2024," the deputy mayor said.

"But to offer people of Tallinn and its guests positive emotions in place of the canceled regatta, we will organize a port festival in the five city center ports, where we will also welcome ships that would have participated in the Tall Ships Races regatta and maybe we could still organize a smaller regatta in cooperation between three cities - Tallinn, Klaipeda and Szczecin," Belobrovtsev added.

On June 16-18, a family festival will take place at the cruise area of the Old City Harbor, Kalaranna District, Patarei Naval Fortress, the Seaplane Harbour (Lennusadam) and Noblessner district. Entertainment on land will be provided by artists from Estonia and abroad, outdoor cafes, childrens' areas, a fish market and many other activities will be available. The festival will be free.

The Tall Ships Races 2022 will visit the North Sea with Esbjerg (Denmark), Harlingen (the Netherlands), Antwerp (Belgium) and Aalborg (Denmark) the host cities. The international regatta is scheduled to take place in the cities of Den Helder (the Netherlands), Hartlepool (UK), Fredrikstad (Norway) and Lerwick (UK) in 2023 and will return to Tallinn and the Baltic Sea in 2024.

The largest international sail training regatta Tall Ships Races previously visited Tallinn in 1992 and the fleet also made stops in Tallinn in 2007, 2013 and 2017 as part of the Cruise-in-Company initiative. Multiple Estonian yachts have participated in the regatta, also bringing home quite a few awards.

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