Cannes Yachting Festival

Best known for hosting the world-famous Cannes Film Festival, the glamorous French Riviera destination of Cannes provides the perfect backdrop to one of Europe’s leading in-water boat shows.

Established in 1977, the Cannes Yachting Festival has become one of the most important platforms for builders, designers and yacht brokers to present a wide variety of boats, ranging from motor yachts and sailing yachts to multihulls, day boats and tenders.

What to expect

More than 600 boats attend each year with approximately 200 of the fleet making their global or show debut. As such, the six-day Cannes event is renowned for unveiling the latest luxury charter yachts, and in doing so attracts top shipyards from around the world.

Prestigious exhibits presented by the world’s largest shipyards can be found in the Vieux Port. Highlights of the location include the ‘Super Yachts Extension’, home to the largest yachts measuring up to 55 metres and the new small boats floating exhibit, for models with sizes between 8-12 meters, at the heart of the marina, which was relocated from the Quai Max Laubeuf for the 2023 edition.

More superyachts go on display across the bay in Port Canto. This section of the show is dedicated to around 55 large second-hand yachts available for both sale and charter, and brokers will be on hand to assist attendees with purchasing and charter enquiries.

Reimagining the show in 2019, the introduction of a new monohull and multihull sailing area in Port Canto created higher visualization throughout the show and resulted in Cannes being the top European show for sailing boats.

Other features of the Cannes Yachting Festival include a brokerage and toy zone, which was introduced in 2017, and a ‘Luxury Gallery’ which is devoted to luxury, arts and crafts and lifestyle and has proved a growing success.

If you are interested in taking part in the upcoming edition of the Cannes Yachting Festival, or would like to integrate the event into your next South of France yacht charter, please speak with your preferred yacht charter broker.