The 2025 Cannes Yachting Festival Is Bigger Than Ever

Boat show September kicks off today in Cannes with the start of the Cannes Yachting Festival. The signs are there that this season is set to be one of the biggest yet.

According to Boat International’s BOATPro data, this year’s Cannes Yachting Festival will sport an average LOA (length on average) of vessels on display of 32.5 meters, a figure that’s up on 2024 (32.3 meters) and 2023 (31.3 meters). What’s more, this year also sees a return of the 50-meter plus category to the show, headlined by Dutch yard Heesen Yachts’ 55-meter After You.

The event, which is the precursor to the Monaco Yacht Show (24 to 27 September), is Europe’s largest in-water boat show for new builds and previously-owned boats and an important platform for shipbuilders like Princess Yachts, Sunseeker, Sanlorenzo and the Ferretti Group (Wally, Pershing, Ferretti Yachts, Itama, Riva, CRM and Custom Line) to showcase their new models.

This year the festival will host 150 world premieres among the 700 boats on display, including the debuts of Columbus Yachts’ Crossover 42-meter Big Naan and the VanDutch75, the new flagship of the VanDutch range.

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A Significant Evolution

Industry figures are noting the increasing importance of the show on the calendar. “Attending the Cannes Yacht Show for the tenth year, I’ve witnessed its growth year over year with 2025 highly anticipated. Both the new build and brokerage sections have expanded, and the standard of yachts displayed has improved,” Richard Gray, Head of Sales UK, at IYC told Forbes.

This growth, Gray added, can be attributed to the increasing sizes of yachts at the Monaco Yacht Show, which have priced smaller vessels out of being shown there, as well as the changing attitude of clients, “who seek shows that meet their specific yachting requirements", he said.

Cecil Wright Partner and Broker, Henry Smith, agreed. “The show has evolved significantly since I first started coming thirteen years ago,” Smith said. As production boats increase in size, that is filtering through through to the brokerage market, he continued, with the result that bigger and newer pre-owned yachts are now on display at Cannes.

“There were years where the show had a lot of models that were difficult to sell and not much interest to the market," he said. “Whereas now we have boats that are very new — some only two or three years old — and proper pedigree boats.”

This year is the first time the brokerage has a yacht on display in the Cannes Yachting Festival. “We have the right yacht for the show and the buyers that we anticipate attending,” he said.

That yacht is ZULU, a 36-meter Inace expedition yacht on the market for €6,950,000,

“She’s just had a massive investment in her mechanical systems, so is ready to go for a new owner,” said Smith.

Committed Buyers at the Cannes Yachting Festival

Smith said that the beauty of the Cannes Yachting Festival is that it attracts committed buyers. "You find clients who are genuinely wanting to buy, which is fantastic, and you often hear about offers made during the show.”

For Gray, who has the 29-meter SAHASA, delivered in 2023 by Sanlorenzo, on display at the show, the Cannes Yachting Festival is ideal for those in the market for tenders, production yachts or semi-custom yachts. “It offers a relaxed and welcoming environment that every buyer should experience during their buying journey."

The Cannes Yachting Festival runs from September 9 to 14 September.