From the legendary historic sailing ships to the French Navy’s most up-to-date armaments, Brest harbour will display scenes from the past with 1,500 boats converging in the bay, attracting up to a million faithful to this boating ‘high mass’. The thirty or so countries invited to take part each year help to make Brest the largest harbour in the world, for one week every four years.
For its 7th edition, the world-class exhibition of everything to do with the sea promises a magnificent spectacle on both land and water, with the Hermione frigate, the historical replica of the flagship La Fayette, which is very popular, and for the first time, the Monge, an impressive tracking ship that will be presented to the public by the French Navy. Music, inspired by the sea and by sailors, is all around: at the harbour, on the café terraces and on the stands of the event’s themed ‘villages’, where all the skills of the seafaring world are displayed, as well as the latest scientific advances. Watching races or ships manoeuvring, going on board and even booking a trip out to sea… everything’s laid on to help visitors get their sea legs. www.brest2016.fr/en