Elstock Regatta
| Elstock Regatta | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Boats at the Elstock Regatta in 2016 | |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Yacht racing Festival Beer festival |
| Date(s) | First Sunday of August, events over the week |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Location(s) | Bay of Elstock |
| Country |  Elstock |
| Inaugurated | 1820 |
| Previous event | 2021 |
| Next event | 2022 |
| Organised by | Elstock Yacht Club |
| Website | www.elstockregatta.el |
The Elstock Regatta (Elsian: Regatë Elstóku; Tyrnican: Elstock-Regatta) is an annual series of sailing yacht races organized by the Elstock Yacht Club and traditionally held in the Bay of Elstock on the first Sunday of August. Founded in 1820, it is considered one of the most prestigious sailing competitions in the world, and a cultural signifier and major tourist event of the city-state of Elstock, drawing in regularly over tens of thousands of visitors during its run. It has been a public holiday in Elstock since 1935.
Outside the races itself, the week around the Regatta, referred to as the Regatta Week (Elsian: Tidzéń Regatów; Tyrnican: Regattawoche) is known for fesitivals and public events, most notably the country's largest beer festival and the Töchterball, a debutante ball mainly attended by Tyrnican aristocracy and upper class, both from Elstock and Tyrnica. The Regatta and the surrounding events bring in, at high estimates, over 200,000 visitors over the week, almost doubling the city-state's population during late summer.
The Regatta emerged as the Royal Elstocker Regatta (Tyrnican: Königliche Elstocker Regatta) as part of the social season of Elstock's upper class, held typically within the spring and summer months. In the event's early years, the Regatta was an important venue for the Alte Elstocker ("Old Elstockers"), a group of wealthy Tyrnican aristocratic families who dominated the city's high society during the 19th and 20th century. From the 1920s onwards, the Regatta's audience expanded into general society, and since has included celebrities, the nouveau riche, and politicians within its more visible attendants. The regatta obtained its current name in 1914 with the separation of Elstock from Tyrnica.