Tours of the Port, pedal skate trips, sea and sailing baptisms and exhibitions on the water make up the bulk of the leisure programme of the International Sea Fair in its twelfth edition, which will take place from 16th to 18th June

The International Sea Fair (FIMAR) returns in 2023 with an extensive leisure programme in the surroundings of the Santa Catalina Quay in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The agenda, from 16 to 18 June, is a complete meeting designed for the public, with tours of the Port (on the tourist bus and by boat), pedal skate trips, sea and sailing baptisms, boat, windsurfing, canoeing or radio control exhibitions and visits to one of the Navy’s ships. The offer for the public is free of charge and includes a restaurant area and a children’s area, which will occupy some 12,000 square metres in the port area. Up to ninety stands will be on display.

Raúl García Brink, the technical coordinator of Economic Development, Energy Sovereignty, Climate and Knowledge of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria; José Eduardo Ramírez, Councillor for City of the Sea of the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and Francisco Trujillo, Director of the Port Authority of Las Palmas, proceeded on the morning of 6 June to the presentation of the programme of FIMAR 2023, it took place in the Plaza de Saulo Torón, in the Paseo de Las Canteras.

The International Sea Fair is an event promoted by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council and the Port Authority of Las Palmas and organised by the Department of Ciudad de Mar of the capital of Gran Canaria and Infecar, Feria de Gran Canaria. In 2023, it will deploy its usual leisure plan for the public and an extensive exhibition of companies and institutions whose scope of action focuses on the marine-maritime and nautical sectors.

Raúl García Brink emphasised that this edition of FIMAR “is going to be fundamentally dedicated to the theme of smart and sustainable beaches”. He also recalled that in 2021 the fair received more than 16,000 visitors “at a time still marked by the pandemic. But this year, we expect an upturn and an increase in attendance”. And he remarked that, from the Cabildo, “we remain committed to the blue economy, to the activity of the exhibitors and to the family public, which is the one that mostly attends the fair at the weekend”.

Concerning the financing of FIMAR, García Brink indicated that “the budget for this edition is 250,000 euros, with 60% participation from the Cabildo and 40% from the City Council. Also very important”, he added, “are the contributions of the Port, from the place where the fair took place to the work carried out by the port police or the boat visits on the sheet of water”.

José Eduardo Ramírez recalled, for his part, that the founding objectives of FIMAR continue to be respected: “To create and promote a culture of the sea among the citizens, and to promote the economic development of the blue economy”. However, he stressed the need to “continue with the development of smart beaches”, as has been done in recent years in the beaches of the capital of Gran Canaria, a pioneering city in implementing these tools. “Thanks to these intelligent systems, knowing data such as the traffic of bathers on the sand and in the bathing area, the flow of currents and tides and even the loss of sand or the control of litter bins or incidents in the showers and footbaths allows us to carry out increasingly better management work. It is essential,” he commented.

The mayor of Ciudad de Mar also alluded to the events before FIMAR scheduled around the fair, which will be held at the new Centre for Marine-Maritime Innovation (CIMM) in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. And he encouraged the public to attend this edition: last year’s event moved half a million euros in turnover among the companies present.

Francisco Trujillo finally noted the importance of the Port of Las Palmas as an engine of the blue economy on the island and in the city. He stressed that “events such as FIMAR contribute to continuing this momentum”. Also, in particular, “concerning the nautical sector, which is strategic for us”.

The director of the Port Authority noted that FIMAR would occupy the space of the cruise ship dock, which is in the process of renovation, and where a large marquee appears while the work on the new terminal is finishing. And he highlighted the facilities the Port Authority offers to organise boat visits, which will be reserved from Monday to Thursday for schoolchildren. On the days of the fair, they will be open to the general public.

Exhibitors

The fair already has around sixty confirmed exhibitors: companies, entities and institutions that carry out their activities in the marine-maritime and nautical sectors. Their presence is the main feature of the identity of an event, FIMAR, which has sought to promote the blue economy in Gran Canaria since its foundation. Hence it is status as a benchmark event in this field.

The stands will also include those of the organising bodies: Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council and the Las Palmas Port Authority. As a new feature of this edition, the public will have various digital and artificial intelligence applications for coastal management at their disposal.

In addition, the city councils of Santa Lucía and La Aldea, the Maritime Marine Cluster and the city of Mindelo (Cape Verde) will also have their space at the fair.

Registration for firms and entities interested in participating is still open on the official FIMAR website at the link.

The FIMAR 2023 programme

The International Sea Fair will formally kick off next Friday, 16 June, at 10:00 hours (with the inauguration and an institutional tour of the site), in an extensive day, with free entry for the public, which will conclude at 20:00 hours. The schedule will be repeated on Saturday, 17 June. And on Sunday, 18 June, the final day will be from 10:30 to 15:00.

FIMAR 2023 includes a wide range of talks open to the public in a space set up for this purpose inside the Muelle Santa Catalina, scheduled from 10:30 to 19:15 on Friday and Saturday and from 10:30 to 14:00 on Sunday.

These are educational and informative sessions on issues such as ocean pollution, life at sea, marine heritage, the sustainability of maritime transport, the stranding of cetaceans, the potential of activities such as beach tennis and the impact of entities such as the Social Marine Institute. In addition, the documentary film Islas Orientales (1941) by Rafael Gil will be screened in the same space. And there will be a workshop on handicrafts with recycled materials for young people and adults.

The list of speakers includes a wide range of experts from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Aridane González González González, Raquel Puig Lozano, Ayoze Castro Alonso, Ianna Francine Luna Duval and Mina Vassvik, Antonio Becerra Bolaños, Hiba Mrich, Manuel Arbelo Hernández, José Juan Castro Hernández, David González Santana and Beatriz Fernández-Gómez, Inmaculada Herrera Rivero and Emilio Soler Onís.

In addition, José Julián Suárez Suárez (provincial director of the Social Institute of the Navy in Las Palmas), Octavio Santana Rodríguez and Aroa Sánchez Méndez (director and coordinator of APROBBA), Iván Vera Albornoz (manager of Health and Prevention on Beaches activities of the Red Cross) and Maite Asensio Elvira (from the association for environmental conservation Latitud Azul) will also give talks.

Leisure plan

The leisure plan for the public includes tours of the port area on board the tourist bus, a service provided in the city by the company City Sightseeing. Its departures from the fair are scheduled at 11:00, 13:00, 16:30 and 18:00. The water surface of the Port can also be explored on boat trips: the first of these is scheduled for the opening day at 13:00 hours. On the following days, these excursions will take place every hour.

Similarly, during the fair, the public will be able to visit one of the Navy’s Maritime Action Ships (BAM), which will be in Santa Catalina throughout FIMAR.

Beautiful for the audiences will be sailing, lateen sailing, adapted sailing, windsurfing, canoeing, stand-up paddle or radio-controlled boat exhibitions; sea rides on pedal skates, regattas or even the celebration, on Sunday 18th, of the parents’ regatta of the Alejandro Da Silva 2023 Trophy.

FIMAR 2023 will have a restaurant area for the public. And a large children’s area, where there will be more craft workshops with recycled material for families and children. And where there will be a variety of fun and educational activities for the youngest audience: from those designed for the over-threes to the very youngest, from zero to three years of age.

Before the official inauguration of FIMAR 2023, the programme of this twelfth edition also includes outstanding events aimed at a more specific audience.

Thus, on 15 June, at the new Marine-Maritime Innovation Centre (CIMM) in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, located in the same area as the Port, ‘Smart Beach’ will be held, a technical and citizen meeting organised by the IAT Marino-Maritime, to evaluate the development of smart beaches in Gran Canaria. It will take place from 19:30 to 15:30.

‘Smart Beach’ Registration is free and open to interested public members until 10 June at 9:00 am. They can be made through the online form on the Society for Economic Promotion of Gran Canaria (SPEGC) website.

This site also offers more information about the event.

The same venue will host, on 14 June, from 9:30 to 14:00, the technical seminar of the partners of the European project DATALAB, under the leadership of the municipal company SAGULPA.