Geocaching HQ Lackeys attend dozens of Mega and Giga-Events around the world, shaking hands, sharing stories of adventure, and of course, geocaching! Genevieve (gminer1105) is a Marketing Manager at Geocaching HQ. She recently traveled to Wrocław, Poland, to attend the Geocaching Party 2023 Mega-Event (GC9YCJW). Here’s her trip summary.

With a name like Geocaching Party 2023, I was expecting that this Mega-Event would be a good time and, after attending the Event and taking part in the festivities, it’s fair to say this Mega-Event exceeded my expectations. The quality, diversity, and sheer amount of activities on offer at the Event was breathtaking. There was truly something there for every kind of geocacher!

The fun started for cachers who arrived early in Wrocław on Friday with a kayaking CITO (GCABR3T) on the Oder River and an Event (GCABCT2) at a riverside beach bar to welcome cachers.

The Mega-Event itself took place on a gorgeous sunny Saturday in Wrocław. The theme of this year’s Event was one of the city’s famous sights, the Wrocław Krasnale (Wrocław Gnomes in English). One of Wroclaw’s famous sights are the many sculptures of gnomes. If you walk anywhere around the city, odds are that you’ll stumble across one or two of these cute works of art.

One of the activities at the Mega-Event was the “Gnome city game”. Cachers who registered for the game received cards showing 26 different places where some of the city’s famous gnomes are. At each spot, there was a QR code placed nearby which would reveal a fragment of a password when it was opened. Cachers had two hours to find as many of the 26 gnomes and QR codes as they could and try to decipher the password.

Geocachers who didn’t hunt for the gnomes had a multitude of other activities to choose from including presentations from the Polish Geological institute, workshops about creating caches, guided tours around the city, and so much more! A personal favorite part of the Event was the gallery of geocaching photography.

On Sunday, Event attendees got together once more at a park outside Wroclaw’s main train station for a few more chats and chances to discover trackables.

A big thank you to all the organizers of this Mega-Event who put in so much work to make it a success. It was a weekend to remember, full of geocaching fun, and new geo-friends.