The Cannes Yachting Festival returns for its 49th edition from 8 to 13 September 2026, once again opening the international season and gathering more than 680 exhibitors across the Vieux Port and Port Canto.

Now directed by Constance Brément, the show keeps its familiar architecture: a fleet of 700 boats from 5 to 50 metres, close to 150 world premieres, and a two port layout linked by a sea shuttle running every fifteen minutes. The Vieux Port holds the motor yachts and the Power Cat Village; Port Canto concentrates the sailing fleet, the brokerage berths and the Toys area. For commercial teams the calendar matters as much as the content, because this is where the season's order book effectively opens.

The Innovation Route, and what it signals

For the second year, a dedicated route through both ports flags the exhibitors judged most innovative and sustainable, and the Innovation Route Awards reward them in four categories: best navigation improving equipment, best sustainable product, best innovative boat and best CSR initiative.

A jury of international professionals and journalists names the winners on Tuesday 8 September, at the Exhibitors Cocktail Reception, with a special jury prize possible.

The framing is deliberate. Boats with electric motors still account for less than 8 percent of the world market, yet the organiser is betting that sustainability is moving from marketing language toward a genuine buying criterion. Entry to the awards was free and open to every exhibitor until 17 July, a breadth that says as much about intent as the trophies do.

The precedent is recent. The inaugural 2025 edition selected 40 innovations and rewarded projects such as SEA.AI's Watchkeeper collision avoidance system, the fully electric MODX 70 catamaran and the 95 percent recyclable VAAN R5, with a Special Jury Prize for Benetti's B.YOND 37M hybrid superyacht.

One addition is worth marking in the diary. For the first time, Cannes will host the ceremony announcing the finalists of the 2026 Best of Boat Awards, Europe's largest prize dedicated to motorboats, on Wednesday 9 September at the Port Canto VIP Club, before a jury drawn from fifteen countries.