Even before the official day on 26 April, we at International Sport and Culture Association were certain that the 9th edition of No Elevators Day was going to be unforgettable. The National Coordinators organised 340 events in 25 countries, which involved almost 63000 participants – and that’s not counting all the action on social media! Continue reading to find out how people and organisations around the globe supported the initiative and stay tuned to this website and our social media channels for more stories from the day.

No Elevators Day attracted the most participants in Spain: 50000 participants! In Bulgaria 6000 people attending 60 events, followed by Latvia with around 2000 people joining the celebration. Association Healthy Life - Kinesis (Udruga Zdrav život – Kinezis) organised a No Elevators Day event in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the first time, which turned out to be a big success. The festival of running up the most famous stairs in Mostar attracted 1150 participants and gained lots of attention on social media platforms and local news websites. According to the organisers, this new dynamic race on the last Wednesday of April with a simple goal to promote the use of stairs in everyday life, from now on will become a regular event. You can find more photos from the race on social media following hashtags #NoElevatorsDay or #UseTheStairs.

What about the media coverage? Thanks to the news articles published by local websites in Spain, Bulgaria and other countries, the #UseTheStairs message reached millions of people. The Spanish state television told on their website about the world’s most famous staircases: read it here and maybe it gives you inspiration to make the next No Elevators Day truly special…

Social media channels saw lots of stairs action, too! Let’s see how organisations and individuals around the world showed their support through their inspiring posts. Posts and stories from the hospitals and universities in Switzerland reached not only their social media followers, but also thousands of their patients who could join the No Elevators Day at their facilities. Deutscher Turner-Bund, a member of International Sport and Culture Association who turned 175 this year and currently has more than 25 thousand followers on Instagram, shared a post about the No Elevators Day as well, helping reach more people in Germany.

We’ve got mentions from individuals and organisations in Serbia, Hungary, Albania (focus on No Elevators Day #WithoutWaste), Portugal, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, and many more on Instagram, Facebook and even YouTube (shorts), where users could enjoy creative content from the supporters of the initiative. Along with the messages from the organisations in the physical activity and sport sector businesses and governmental institutions, multiple state and health organisations in Latvia and Estonia, NGOs from Austria and Hungary, architectural bureau from Portugal and kindergartens in Bulgaria joined the campaign.

Thanks to all participants for spreading the message and enjoying this day full of MOVEment together with us! Save the date for the next No Elevators Day: 24 April 2024. We will also continue our campaign to promote stair climbing for “brain breaks” all year round – join and use our resources like toolkits or stay tuned!

Participating countries

Albania, Argentina, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey