No gala for 2027 Worlds?

[TT_Fin]

The event page says:

Sunday 21st March – Meet & Greet​

The competition may be over, but the experience continues at Nokia Arena. During the Meet & Greet event, fans will have the unique opportunity to step onto the ice and skate alongside world-class athletes from the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2027.

More details will be shared closer to the event.

What could possible go wrong? IMO a lot. How can these thing even be organized? Can it be safety to allow people go to ice? I doubt that interest towards this kind of thing is minimum. I do not know whose idea is this, but this idea is a big miss. I am not biggest fan of galas, but I really do not get this. One of the weirdest ideas ever, imo, and not in a good way. I hope the organizes/ISU rethink this again. The interest towards this thing will be quite low, I suppose. Maybe some groups of little skaters like the idea? Hard to think anybody else to be interested. And not at the ice, it is not good idea at all. I cannot imagine either how this weird thing could be organized systematically and safety. Most Finns can skate at some level, we do have skating lessons at school, but still I thinks the idea is risky. This is targeted mostly to little Finnish skaters, I suppose. But has anybody asked the skaters? Does this mean overall galas will be left in past and or this local idea?

 

[gsk8]

It's a bit early...page also reads:
More details will be shared closer to the event.

 

[ladyjane]

Give me a gala any day! Not because I am an avid watcher, but as a skater myself - and an old one at that who isn't able to learn that much any more - I wouldn't dare skate with one of these really good skaters. Brrr. Kids might like it though. They usually dare anything, and aren't afraid to fall. Will that be enough though? And what with all those people who won't even be there? What do they get? Because a meet and greet like this will only be for people already present.

As @gsk8 says, more details will be shared closer to the event (as a matter of fact the WC 2026 were only a month ago), but this does not look my thing!

 

[NanaPat]

One of the weirdest ideas ever, imo, and not in a good way. I hope the organizes/ISU rethink this again.

Weirder than the ISU awards in place of the gala? I'll have to
about that.

 

[TallyT]

They have been trying to phase out galas for years (wasn't the ISU award thingy meant to replace them? that went excellently) so I am not surprised.

I am also mentally calculating the liability insurance and, ummmmm.......

 

[dearskate]

The event page says:

Sunday 21st March – Meet & Greet​

The competition may be over, but the experience continues at Nokia Arena. During the Meet & Greet event, fans will have the unique opportunity to step onto the ice and skate alongside world-class athletes from the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2027.

More details will be shared closer to the event.

What could possible go wrong? IMO a lot. How can these thing even be organized? Can it be safety to allow people go to ice? I doubt that interest towards this kind of thing is minimum. I do not know whose idea is this, but this idea is a big miss. I am not biggest fan of galas, but I really do not get this. One of the weirdest ideas ever, imo, and not in a good way. I hope the organizes/ISU rethink this again. The interest towards this thing will be quite low, I suppose. Maybe some groups of little skaters like the idea? Hard to think anybody else to be interested. And not at the ice, it is not good idea at all. I cannot imagine either how this weird thing could be organized systematically and safety. Most Finns can skate at some level, we do have skating lessons at school, but still I thinks the idea is risky. This is targeted mostly to little Finnish skaters, I suppose. But has anybody asked the skaters? Does this mean overall galas will be left in past and or this local idea?

It sounds madness to me. I think lots of people would want to go on the ice with the skaters and it could be mayhem. Why is there no gala? Does this mean the skaters are not able to earn anything from performaing?

 

[Magill]

It sounds madness to me. I think lots of people would want to go on the ice with the skaters and it could be mayhem. Why is there no gala? Does this mean the skaters are not able to earn anything from performing?

Maybe they get paid for circling on the ice as a living bait for Meet and Greet paying participants.... It seems ISU believes people would rather rub shoulders with the skaters on the ice than actually watch them skate their gala programs