Picture this: 5000 Poles packed onto a big field in front of a massive stage, with 30-foot inflateable beer cans on either side.  Armin van Buuren, a "famous" Trance DJ hits the stage: "Poznan, are you ready to party?"  Then he pauses, "but first, we have one more thing to get rid of...the opening ceremony for the rowing championships."

Then the DJ, Denis Oswald (FISA President), various dignitaries from the Polish Rowing federation and the mayor of Poznan settle into a semi-circle of easy chairs that have been set up on the stage, talk-show style, with van Buuren acting as a kind of MC.  He turns to Denis Oswald, on the mic, and asks the president of FISA, "so, do you like Trance music?"

I swear I am not making this up.

This continues for a few minutes, then Oswald is allowed to make his official opening ceremony speech. (Meanwhile, the crowd is chanting "Armin! Armin!").  After this, flags of all the participating nations are unfurled, then four Mimes on stilts (!!!) bring out the FISA flag, which they proceed to hang up on the tower, backwards.

Then, blessedly, the "rowing" portion of the event is over, there are fireworks, and van Buuren starts in on the techno.

Now, I'm all for an event that brings a ton of people to anything involving rowing, but just maybe, tacking the opening of the Worlds on to a rave detracted from the occasion somewhat?