No less than 120 boats and around 300,000 visitors during the last edition in 2020. Stopover in Sète, one of the largest gatherings of boats in the Mediterranean, sets the moorings until Easter Monday in the Hérault.
“These are heritage boats, essentially work boats.
Boats of yesterday and today, details Wolfgang Idiri, director and creator in 2010 of the event.
Next to a historic sailboat, there is a tug for example”.
The magnificent sailboats are docked until Easter Monday.
Stopover in Sète is a free event.
Having the privilege of treading the deck of the boats is generally paid for, and the choice is left to the discretion of the captains, who finance the maintenance of these boats and life on board thanks to these funds.
More often than not, it is enthusiasts who have brought these old rigs back to life.
Like the
Morgenster
, a brig that was in turn a fishing sailboat, a cruise ship or a pirate radio transmitter.
Exceptional boats, but the party is not just on the water
Along the quays, from the Dutch barges – country guest of honor for this sixth edition – to the
Mircea
, the magnificent sailing school of the Romanian naval academy, there is something for everyone.
Passing by the
Nao Victoria
, a replica of one of Magellan's fleet ships.
Or the
Grace
and its pirates who put on a show with cannons in the port and on the quays.
If the public comes from afar to see these superb boats, the whole town is jubilant for a week.
A shipyard, stands, a village with twelve themes and around fifty music groups, including Lann Bihoué's famous bagad… The party isn't just on the water.
But the event wants to keep its original character “Escale à Sète is a family celebration, popular, festive, but of quality, continues Wolfgang Idiri.
We don't want to become an amusement park.
Our ambition, through this event, is to arouse curiosity, vocations and keep this heritage alive”.
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