Cannes Yachting Festival 2026 Opens With More Than 700 Boats

Cannes Yachting Festival 2026 has opened on the French Riviera, bringing more than 710 boats and yachts and more than 680 exhibitors to Vieux Port and Port Canto from 8 to 13 September. The official festival figures underline the scale of the event at the start of the European autumn show season, with vessels ranging from five to 55 metres and a programme built around yacht visits, new launches, industry meetings and selected sea trials.

The two-harbour format gives Cannes an unusually broad market reach. Motor yachts, power catamarans, tenders, marine equipment and services are concentrated around Vieux Port, while Port Canto brings together sailing yachts, brokerage yachts, water toys and smaller powerboats. For owners, brokers and builders, the arrangement places new-production yachts and pre-owned vessels within the same show while keeping the principal sectors in clearly defined areas.

Vieux Port puts motor yachts at the centre of the show

Vieux Port remains the principal motor-yacht venue, with the organisers listing more than 350 boats from 12 to 45 metres from leading international shipyards. The harbour also accommodates marine equipment and service companies, creating a display that extends beyond finished yachts to the technical, operational and commercial businesses that support ownership and new construction.

Within Vieux Port, the Jetée is one of the focal points for larger launches and world premieres, while Quai Saint-Pierre is dedicated to luxury day boats, open models and flybridge yachts over 12 metres. Quai Max Laubeuf combines large motor yachts with high-performance models, and Pantiero brings together the Power Cat Village, larger RIBs and a dedicated marine-technology and equipment area.

Port Canto combines sailing, brokerage and lifestyle sectors

Port Canto gives the festival a different character. The venue combines the Sailing Area, Yacht Brokerage Area, Toys Area and Power Boat Marina, bringing new sailing yachts into the same event as pre-owned superyachts, dayboats and motorboats. The official festival presentation describes Port Canto as the world of sailing and lifestyle, with the brokerage section adding an important second-hand market dimension to a show otherwise dominated by new-product launches.

For prospective buyers, the split between the two harbours creates useful contrasts. A visitor can move from a newly launched motor yacht in Vieux Port to a brokerage yacht in Port Canto and compare delivery time, specification, condition, volume and asking proposition within the same day. Sailing yachts and multihulls broaden that comparison further, making Cannes more than a conventional motor-yacht showcase.

Opening day turns months of previews into physical yachts

The start of the festival is the point at which many yachts previously announced through renderings, shipyard releases and pre-show previews become publicly accessible in finished form. Builders use Cannes to introduce new models, stage press presentations and place competing designs alongside one another, allowing visitors to judge exterior proportions, deck circulation, interior volume and finish in a way that specifications alone cannot reproduce.

With more than 710 boats and yachts listed by the organisers, the scale of the fleet also makes direct comparison one of the show's strongest features. Yachts of similar overall length can offer very different ownership propositions depending on beam, hull form, gross tonnage, propulsion, exterior space and accommodation planning, and Cannes provides a concentrated environment in which those differences can be inspected rather than inferred.

Visits and sea trials add another layer to the show

The festival permits visitors to step aboard many of the yachts on display, although access remains subject to individual exhibitors and their appointment policies. The organisers also promote selected sea trials, giving prospective clients an opportunity to experience performance, visibility, noise levels and handling away from the quay when a participating builder makes a yacht available for demonstration.

Public opening hours run from 10:00 to 19:00 from Tuesday through Thursday, followed by a late opening until 22:00 on Friday. The show returns to a 19:00 close on Saturday before finishing at 18:00 on Sunday 13 September, giving the industry six days of yacht visits, meetings, presentations and on-water activity across the two Cannes harbours.

Cannes starts six days of concentrated market activity

The opening of Cannes also changes the rhythm of the European yachting calendar. Pre-show announcements now give way to physical premieres, client visits and commercial discussions, with builders, designers, equipment companies, brokers and service providers gathered around the same waterfront. The official figures of more than 680 exhibitors and more than 700 boats reflect the breadth of that market rather than a display limited only to the largest yachts.

For Superyacht Guide, the opening day begins the live phase of Cannes coverage. Attention over the coming days will move towards the yachts that make their public debuts, new projects or sales announced during press conferences, technical developments shown for the first time and the larger superyachts attracting interest around Vieux Port and Port Canto as the 2026 festival develops.