The town of De Panne, Belgium, held this year's European Gull Screeching Championship where contestants are ranked on how well they can imitate the coastal bird's noise.

Almost 60 contestants of different nationalities took to the stage to perform their best gull imitation with the youngest being just 7 years old and the eldest being 70.

One contender, Kim Robbins, even made their way from Philadelphia, US, to join the contest during her trip around Europe.

A 9-year-old named Cooper Wallace from the UK won "Promise of the Year" with 92 points out of 100.

A team led by Loic Devos from Anzegem, Belgium, received the gold medal for "Best Colony".

Simao Joao from Madeira, Portugal, claimed the prize of "European Champion 2024" with their impressive screech seen at the end of the video.

The European Championship Gullscreeching 2024 will go into the anals as the finest event during Belgium's EU presidency during the first half of 2024.

With the seagulls flying back to their own nest, the European Championships Gullscreeching 2024 could once again count on a lot of enthusiasm, for the first time 7 countries participated

Kudos to all the staff, judges, participants and supporters. They deserve all our love, just like the seagulls.

Herewith figures and the results:

- 2024: record number of 57 gulls
o 11 juniors
o 6 colonies (30 gulls)
o 16 adults
o from 7 countries: Belgium, England (1), France (1), Italy (1), the Netherlands (4), Portugal (1) and Sweden (9)

57 seagulls came on stage to win titles: the youngest is 7 years old and the oldest was 70 years old.
We also had 1 special seagull guest from the USA: Kim Robbins from Philadelphia is making a trip through Europe with her friends.

The enthusiasm for the event continues to grow. The passage of the Swedish candidate and his supporters was absolutely unique. Just in the year that Sweden won Eurosong 50 years ago with Waterloo, a spot in Belgium.

The podiums of the 4th European Championship Gullscreeching eventually went to:
- Promise of the Year
o Gold is for Cooper Wallace from Engeland, 9 years old with 92 points out of 100. (video)
o Silver: 14-year old Arend Declerck (Kortrijk, B) with 85 points
o Bronze: 85 points went to 11 year old Elena Maviglia (B, Kapellen)
The difference was made by the points of the president of the jury: Jan Seys (VLIZ) gave 18 points to Arend, Elena got 17 points from the president of the jury.

- Being best colony
o Gold: Team led by Loïc Devos from Anzegem (B received 88 points from the judges.
o Silver: Team Charline Franken (B,Brussel): 84 points
o Bronze: Team ‘De Zwammadammen, Oostende (B): 83 points

- European Champion 2024 is Simao Joao from Portugal (Madeira) with 87 points (video)
- Silver is for Marjolein Keesenberg from The Netherlands (Amsterdam) with 86 points (video)
- Bronze is for Joke De Keyrel from Belgium with 85 points (video)