Cannes Yachting Festival · 2026

Agoris analysis · updated October 2026

Key takeaways

• The Cannes Yachting Festival is Europe's largest boat show afloat. Every early September it occupies two sites in Cannes bay, the Vieux Port and Port Canto, linked continuously by free shuttle boats every fifteen minutes.
• Owner: the Fédération des Industries Nautiques (FIN), the French trade body representing the marine industry. Operator: RX France, a subsidiary of the RX group, which holds the show's operating rights.
• Next edition: the 49th edition, from Tuesday 8 to Sunday 13 September 2026, led by Constance Brément, appointed to head the festival after Sylvie Ernoult's departure at the close of the 2025 edition.
• 2026 edition announced: 680 exhibitors, more than 700 boats from 5 to 50 metres, close to 150 world premieres and 56,000 international visitors expected.
• 2025 results: 56,000 visitors, 677 exhibitors, 711 boats exhibited and 181 premieres including 147 boats, across 100,000 m² of exhibition space.
• Show founded in 1977, open to the paying general public: ticketing is entirely online, with no box office on site, and a dedicated professional e-ticket valid from Tuesday to Friday.
• Split between the two ports: the Vieux Port concentrates motor yachts, superyachts and equipment suppliers; Port Canto brings together sailing, brokerage, dayboats and water toys.

Who exhibits

Typical profile

The show brings together six exhibitor families identified by the organiser: yacht builders and shipyards, marine equipment and technology brands, yacht brokers and distributors, marinas, ports and destinations, Innovation Route exhibitors, and water toys and nautical lifestyle brands.

The segmentation is geographic. The Vieux Port presents more than 350 boats from 12 to 50 metres spread across the Palais des Festivals, La Jetée, the Quai Saint-Pierre, the Quai Max Laubeuf and the Pantiero, which hosts the Power Cat Village dedicated to motor catamarans. For 2026, the organiser announces an at-anchor yacht display on the new jetty and a repositioning of the large yachts on the Quai Max Laubeuf.

Port Canto is toured in a 2.5-kilometre loop. It brings together the Espace Voile, presented by the organiser as the world's largest fleet of new sailing yachts over 10 metres exhibited afloat with 120 units, the Power Boat Marina and its 180 dayboats up to 13 metres, a Yacht Brokerage sector announced as particularly dense in 2026 with more than 45 boats over 25 metres, and the Toys zone.

Notable exhibitors

The list of exhibitors, the list of boats and the list of products and services for the 2026 edition are published on the show's official website. The 2025 edition counted 677 exhibitors, 5.8% more than the previous year.

Quality of the audience

The audience is mixed and international. The 2024 edition had welcomed around 55,000 visitors from 130 nationalities, and the 2025 edition brought together 56,000. Press coverage is a useful indicator for an exhibitor launching a product: 665 journalists from close to 40 countries were accredited in 2025.

The pricing structure clearly distinguishes the two audiences. The general public accesses the show with a day e-ticket, while marine industry professionals have a dedicated e-ticket valid from Tuesday to Friday, the four opening days, the quietest in terms of attendance. There is no day closed to the public.

The market context deserves to be factored into a reading of these figures. According to Boat Industry, the record 2025 turnout contrasts with a more nuanced economic reality: stable registrations in France, a slowdown on mid-length sailing yachts, growth in chartering at the expense of ownership, and results under pressure at listed shipyards. Demand remains strong in the premium, top-of-the-range and catamaran segments, but it is more selective.

Events & community

Innovation Route and awards

The Innovation Route is the trail that identifies and showcases the innovative and sustainable solutions presented by exhibitors. It had selected 42 projects in 2025.

A jury of professionals and international journalists presents the Innovation Route Awards, whose 2nd edition takes place at the exhibitors' cocktail reception on Tuesday 8 September 2026. Four prizes are awarded: Best Equipment Improving Navigation, Best Sustainable Product, Most Innovative Boat and Best CSR Initiative.

New for 2026: the festival hosts, for the first time, the announcement ceremony for the Best of Boat Awards 2026 finalists, on Wednesday 9 September at 6pm at the VIP Club in Port Canto.

Sea trials and boarding visits

Boarding the exhibited boats is possible for a large part of the fleet, subject to the exhibitor's agreement, who organises visits according to their own arrangements. Some exhibitors offer sea trials in Cannes bay, by appointment booked directly with them.

Community & networks

The Cannes Yachting Festival opens the global yachting season: it precedes the autumn events of the industry, in Genoa then La Rochelle.

Cannes also hosts several other international trade shows listed on Agoris, all at the Palais des Festivals: MIPIM for real estate, MIPCOM for audiovisual content, MAPIC for retail, TFWA World Exhibition for travel retail and ILTM Cannes for luxury tourism.

On site: what you need to know

The show is held across two sites, both open with the same access pass. For layout, access and parking, see the venue page: Vieux Port de Cannes. The Vieux Port entrances are via the Palais des Festivals and via the Pantiero, opposite the town hall. Port Canto's entrances are via the Espace Voile and the Power Boat Marina on one side, and via the Espace Brokers & Toys on the other.

2026 opening hours: Tuesday 8, Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 September from 10am to 7pm, Friday 11 September from 10am to 10pm for a late-night opening, Saturday 12 September from 10am to 7pm, Sunday 13 September from 10am to 6pm.

Free shuttle boats, rigid inflatables and covered shuttles, run between the two ports every fifteen minutes from 10am, for any visitor holding an access pass.

Access: Cannes railway station is a few minutes' walk from the Vieux Port. From Nice Côte d'Azur airport, bus line 81 serves Cannes directly. Bags larger than roughly 40 x 30 cm, i.e. A3 format, are not allowed, nor are animals.

2026 ticketing, published on the official ticketing site: 1-day e-ticket at €40, 2-day e-ticket at €65, Confort 1-day e-ticket at €120, Family 1-day e-ticket at €120 for two adults and two teenagers aged 11 to 18, Professional e-ticket at €60 valid from Tuesday to Friday. On the premium side: Sea Access Vieux Port 1-day at €220, VIP Silver 1-day at €250, VIP Gold 2-day at €660, VIP Gold 6-day at €950, Platinum 6-day at €1,640. Sales are exclusively online, with no box office on site.

How much it costs to exhibit

The organiser does not publish a priced rate schedule. It states that rates vary according to the type of space, its surface area and its location, and offers several formulas: bare stand, fitted stand, turnkey stand, "saphir" package and quayside berths.

The distinction between land surface and quayside berth is central to a budget: at the Cannes Yachting Festival, the exhibited unit is most often the boat itself, which adds convoying, insurance and crew costs for the full duration of the show on top of the stand item.

Quotes go through the official website's contact form or through the sales department, reachable on (+33) 1 47 56 64 79, Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm.

Preparing your visit

For the exhibitor

• Choose the port before choosing the stand: the Vieux Port for motor yachts, superyachts and equipment, Port Canto for sailing, brokerage, dayboats and water toys. The quote request should specify the segment.
• Arrange convoying and insurance well in advance: the quayside berth is booked for six full days, with crew present and the boat ready to receive visitors.
• Apply for the Innovation Route if the product relates to the energy transition or a technological innovation: it is the show's most followed trail and the gateway to the four Innovation Route Awards.
• Concentrate professional meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday: the dedicated professional rate covers Tuesday to Friday, and general public attendance rises over the weekend.
• Prepare the press angle: 665 journalists from close to 40 countries were accredited in 2025, which makes the show as much a product launch venue as a sales one.

For the decision-making visitor

• Book the ticket online before coming: there is no box office on site.
• Allow two days if the aim is to cover both ports: Port Canto alone is a 2.5-kilometre loop, and the shuttle boat adds travel time.
• Contact exhibitors in advance for sea trials and boarding visits on the larger units: these slots are booked and fill up fast.
• Aim for the start of the week for business meetings, the Friday late-night opening until 10pm for a broader visit.
• Plan accommodation ahead: the first week of September tends to put strong pressure on the Cannes hotel market.

Policy & CSR initiatives

The show publishes a commitments page structured around figures set by the organising group: halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reaching Net Zero Carbon by 2040. On waste, the stated target is a 10% reduction at each edition and a 5% increase in the share recovered or reused.

On the operational side, the organiser highlights the systematic recycling of carpets under the UNIMEV plan, the removal of plastic consumables, the use of reusable cardboard and coated canvas, systematic waste sorting with a local exhibitor-awareness partnership, and a catering offer with alternatives to red meat and vegetarian options.

On the social and inclusive side, the show guarantees access for people with reduced mobility across all stands and both sites, takes account of specific needs regarding access and sound or light levels, applies a code of conduct and commits to diversity among speaker panels.

The show is a signatory of the Net Zero Carbon Events Pledge and the Climate Pledge, via its parent companies RX and RELX. No ISO 20121 certification specific to the Cannes Yachting Festival has been published to date.

Both sites bring a solid foundation. The Vieux Port and the Port Pierre Canto are certified Ports Propres and Ports Propres actifs en biodiversité, and are among the three Cannes ports awarded the Pavillon Bleu (Blue Flag).

How the trade show has evolved

Trajectory analysis

The show's trajectory is one of a high plateau, not growth. Attendance hovers around 55,000 to 56,000 visitors from one edition to the next, with 2% growth between 2024 and 2025. The real movement lies elsewhere: the number of exhibitors gained 5.8% in 2025 and world premieres jumped 22.5%, to 147. In other words, the show is densifying its offer on a stable audience.

Two structural developments can be read across recent editions. First, the rise of Port Canto, with the creation of the Power Boat Marina and its 180 dayboats, which has rebalanced a show long centred on the Vieux Port. Second, the establishment of the Innovation Route as a defined trail, given its own awards since 2025, which gives a visible place to equipment suppliers and energy-transition start-ups alongside shipyards.

The 2026 edition is the first led by Constance Brément, with a stated aim of strengthening international reach and the experiential dimension. For an exhibitor, the useful signal is not visitor volume, which is stable and predictable, but the density of product launches and international press coverage: 665 journalists from close to 40 countries in 2025, in a market where demand exists but is becoming more selective.

Unless otherwise stated, all factual data in this listing comes from the organiser's official website (cannesyachtingfestival.com).