Port accessThe Bilbao Port and River Foundation will organise free games and activities for all ages and will lay on a free shuttle service from the Bizkaia Bridge and Neguri metro station.
After the suspension of the 2020 edition caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, this Sunday, 24 October, will see the return of the Kai Jai, or Port of Bilbao Day, to be held at the Getxo cruise terminal.
This is the sixth edition of this event. By inviting employees’ children and families to spend a fun morning, the idea is to bring people closer to the port, a mainstay of the economic, social and cultural development of all the neighbouring riverside towns. Through the different activities organised, the aim is to give all those who live near the port the opportunity to see it up close. From 10:30 to 14:30, those attending will be able to take part in numerous activities and games to get to learn about the day-to-day life of the main port of the Cantabrian Sea and its importance in the social life of local people. Early next year, and after the cancellation of last year’s event due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Port Authority of Bilbao will also revive the Ezagutu Portua programme, and will organise another Open Day in its Santurtzi and Zierbena facilities. Through this programme, around 24,000 students and 7,000 adults have been able to visit the port facilities in recent years to get to know them at first hand.
The Kai Jai is organised by the Bilbao Port and River Foundation and admission and all activities are free. To ensure easy access, and in addition to free parking, the port will lay on a free shuttle bus service every half hour from Neguri metro station and from the Bizkaia Bridge.
At the entrance, everybody will be given a passport to be stamped at each of the activities in which they take part. When the passport is fully stamped, visitors will be given a prize. Among the many activities planned are children’s theatre, a pirate gymkhana, a police dog show, a storyteller, the ship’s captain, river dredging, bouncy castles, a reverse bungee ride, jet ski and windsurf simulators, workshops on tying knots, stevedoring and mooring, and a photocall, where participants will have the chance to win a prize. There will also be a stall where talo, a typical Basque corn crêpe, will be on sale, and port service vessels will be on display throughout the day.
If the weather is bad, all activities will take place indoors, where capacity will be limited.
The Port of Bilbao and the Bilbao Port and River Foundation
The port of Bilbao is a commercial, logistic and industrial reference in the Atlantic axis, with a significant role in improving the competitiveness of our economy in international trade. Port activity accounts for 1.29% of the GDP of the Basque Country and 2.55% of that of Bizkaia, and generates around 11,500 jobs.
The Bilbao Port and River Foundation comprises the nine riverside towns of Barakaldo, Bilbao, Erandio, Getxo, Leioa, Portugalete, Santurtzi, Sestao and Zierbena, as well as the Port Authority of Bilbao. It is also supported by a further twenty or so companies and organisations involved in port activity.
The main objective of the Foundation is to promote and develop plans of general interest, within a wide socio-cultural and recreational context, to enable a better understanding and knowledge of the historic and present-day importance of the port of Bilbao, and of the Bilbao river, in the economic and social development and integration of the riverside towns, as well as innovation-linked projects and initiatives in the port sector.
