­Following the news that Reed Exposition, the Cannes Yachting Festival event organisers, had applied for special dispensation in an attempt to ensure that the boat show went ahead as planned from 8-13 September, it has been announced that this year’s Yachting Festival has been cancelled.

On 11 August, a recent surge in French COVID-19 cases lead the French government to announce an extension to the ban on event gathering for more than 5,000 people. In addition, on the 13 August, the UK government announced that individuals returning from France would have to engage in a two-week quarantine period in order to reduce the number of new COVID-19 cases.

In an attempt to ensure that the Yachting Festival went ahead, the show’s management had applied for special dispensation. The dispensation would have meant that, with the addition of ever more stringent health protocols, visitors to the event would have been exempt from the quarantine measures. However, the show has since announced that the event will no longer be going ahead.

The announcement should come as absolutely no surprise to the yachting community given that with every additional measure that has been implemented, the event has become less and less attractive to potential clients which massively draws into question the value the event could have possibly delivered for it exhibitors and sponsors, not to mention the various ethical concerns.

On 15 May 2020, SuperyachtNews broke the news that SYBAss and LYBrA had withdrawn from Monaco Yacht Show – the event was cancelled soon thereafter. In their letter to MYS both associations outlined that they had doubts over the event’s ability to attract guests and clients, the safety of the show and whether or not it was appropriate to host a show that is, ostensibly, a celebration of wealth while the world continues to suffer from the COVID-19 pandemic.

While both shows have now been cancelled, neither of the events showed any awareness of the issues raised by SYBASS and LYBrA three months ago. Neither show should have been allowed to continue. At least in MYS’s case, they made the decision early and allowed their exhibitors ample time to revaluate how they would spend their time and money. Cannes Yachting Festival, by stark contrast, has cancelled the event at the 11th hour.

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