TIPS FOR
ORGANISING
EVENTS
What can a Baltic Sea Day event look like, when must it be submitted, and what should be taken into consideration when organising the day? We have compiled tips for the event organisers on this page!
ORGANISE
ORGANISING A PUBLIC EVENT
A Baltic Sea Day event can be any public event related to the sea or waters. Organising an event requires committing to the values of Baltic Sea Day, and taking care of safety measures and any necessary permits. Before submitting your event, familiarise yourself with the instructions and tips gathered on this page.
If possible, plan youHave a big enough team planning you event, the best ideas are
Include a suitably sized team in the planning, the best ideas are born together. The event can also be organised by several different organisations or other parties!
frequently asked questions
These questions may be on your mind. Here are some answers!
We hope that the event will be held on Baltic Sea Day, the last Thursday of August. Your event can begin early in the morning or in the evening.
Nothing prevents you from organising an event that lasts several days. For example, a sea-themed exhibition could be open for the whole month of August.
The most important thing is that the Baltic Sea is celebrated – regardless of the date. In exceptional cases you can organise your event on a day other than Baltic Sea Day. In such a case you can register the event as usual and add information about the different date to the event description.
On Baltic Sea Day, events are mostly free of charge and we encourage organising free events so that as many people as possible can enjoy the Baltic Sea Day festivities. However, collecting an entrance or participation fee is allowed. Products or services may also be sold at events. Fundraising is permitted in accordance with the Funraising Act.
You can! As long as registration for the event is open to everyone. You can, however, target the event and registration, for example, to families with children.
Submit your event well in advance to benefit from Baltic Sea Day’s general marketing! It is recommended to register your event in spring, by June 1 at the latest. We will also publish events after this date until August 25, but the later you submit, the harder it will be to attract an audience to your event.
If details need to be changed or added to your event page later, that is fine. You can do that by contacting us: bsd@jnfoundation.fi
Ideas and tips
We have compiled event ideas for Baltic Sea Day. Use the tips or come up with your own! Please remember that the event must be open to everyone.
- Find a suitable guide and organise a Baltic Sea walk. A guided walk could be themed around, for example, coastal architecture or historical events. Alternatively, the walk can focus simply on getting active in nature or include birdwatching or picking up litter.
- Collaborate with a company that rents SUP boards and together organise Baltic Sea Day SUP race or SUP cleanup event.
- Organise a Baltic Sea themed lecture at your premises. Find a speaker guided by the topic choice. The topic could be, for example, Baltic Sea shipwrecks, the sea as inspiration for art, maritime myths, or the Baltic Sea’s key species.
- Organise a plunge event. Perhaps alongside the plunge you can arrange family-friendly activities, such as a sandcastle competition.
- Contact a nearby boating club and organize a family-friendly event at the harbor. You can invite other maritime or local operators to participate.
- Organise a maritime film screening. Screening rights can be requested by contacting the creator or the distributor.
- Get inspired by maritime music and organise a sea-themed concert.
- Contact a professional photographer and arrange a photography course. The theme could be, for example, landscape photography or the animals and plants of the Baltic Sea.
- Organize a running or cycling race along the coast.
- The Baltic Sea appreciates when things are recycled and repaired. Set up a public bike repair station, a clothing repair workshop, or a flea market event.
- Offer dishes at your restaurant according to the Baltic Sea menu, either on Baltic Sea Day or for a longer period, for example during August or throughout the year! The offering can be a full menu or a single dish.
- Create a menu bag or picnic basket based on the Baltic Sea menu that can be picked up from the restaurant.
- Organise a maritime cooking class or cooking demonstration in the restaurant.
- Host a picnic on the terrace or elsewhere outdoors following the Baltic Sea menu.
- Hold a Baltic Sea-themed pub quiz.
- Organise a Baltic Sea- or water-themed exhibition, workshop, lecture, or guided tour.
- Organise Baltic Sea activities and story sessions for children. You can make use of the ready-made materials collected on the Baltic Sea Day site.
- If you have a café or restaurant, offer food or snacks in line with the Baltic Sea Menu.
- Hold a free open house day in honour of Baltic Sea Day.
- Organise a maritime street carnival, Baltic Sea market, or other outdoor event for residents. The program can include, for example, information points from maritime operators, ship visits, food stalls, musical performances, children’s workshops, or a communal plunge into the sea. You can find inspiration in the Baltic Sea Day events organised by the cities of Hanko and Turku.
- Organise a Baltic Sea carnival parade in your organisation and invite other local educational institutions and residents to join. For example, in art class you can make various signs or sea creatures to decorate the parade (instructions for crafting a carnival fish).
- Prepare various Baltic Sea information booths and maritime performances, and hold an open house at the institution with a Baltic Sea theme.
- The Baltic Sea thanks you when things are recycled and repaired. Set up a public bike repair station, a clothes mending workshop, or a flea market event.
before the event
Checklist for event organizers
Plan
Think about the following:
- Who is the event for, and what audience size are you targeting?
- How does the event relate to the Baltic Sea or other bodies of water?
- Will the event be held indoors or outdoors?
- Is the event accessible?
- Does the event follow the Baltic Sea Day values?
Safety
Recognize possible emergency situations beforehand and think about how different weather conditions and other special situations are prepared for. Agree areas of responsibility with your co-organisers.
In big public events (more than 200 people present at the same time) the organiser has to take care of preparing a rescue plan.
The John Nurminen Foundation, which coordinates Baltic Sea Day, is not responsible for individual events that it has not participated in organizing.
Read tips for organizing a safe event on Tukes’ website.
Permits
Familiarize yourself with event mermits in advance and prepare for municipality-specific requirements.
Tutustu tapahtumalupiin hyvissä ajoin ja varaudu kuntakohtaisiin vaatimuksiin tapahtumien järjestämisessä. Instructions can usually be found on the city’s own website. For larger public events with hundreds of people, the following must be taken into account:
- notification of public event to the police
- landowners permission for the event
- safety, first aid and rescue plan
- water supply
- waste management and toilets
- electrical needs
- impacts on traffic
- noise
- copyrights of music
TIPS FOR MARKETING
Choose marketing methods suitable for your event here:
- Submit your event in the Baltic Sea Day calendar and benefit from the marketing of the Day!
- Tag @balticseaday in your Instagram posts and add the hashtags #itämeripäivä #balticseaday. We will share you content on the Baltic Sea Day account.
- Create a Facebook event and tell about the event in local Facebook groups.
- Announce the event in free calendars in your area, for example, the event calendar maintained by the city or local media (HS’s menokone, TS’s menovinkit, etc.)
- Tell your customers/stakeholders about the event, for example, on social media, in your newsletter and on your website.
- Consider paid advertising on social media or other media.
- Ask partners, performers and collaborators to share your event on their own channels.
- Take event brochures or posters to libraries, cafes, sports venues and other public spaces in the area. Remember to ask permission!
- Is there something special about the event that could interest the media? Tip a reporter.
Resource library
Use the ready-made communication materials for Baltic Sea Day. You can find social media images and videos in the resource library.