A highlight of the Un Été Au Havre 2025 season, The Tall Ships Races is coming back to Le Havre from 4 to 7 July 2025, and bringing with it the world’s biggest sailing ships. This event, known as Les Grandes Voiles du Havre, is a wonderful opportunity to admire exceptional sailing ships including Belem, Capitán Miranda, Morgenster, and the world’s biggest and oldest rig, Dar Mlodziezy. There are over 40 ships signed up for this 2025 event.

During the 4-day festivities, visitors will be able to go aboard the ships free-of-charge and enjoy the diverse entertainment and activities on offer, including concerts, fireworks, the famous parade of crew members and boat parade as they leave the port. On 7 July, all the sailing ships will be leaving Le Havre and sailing towards Dunkirk, then Aberdeen in Scotland and Kristiansand in Norway, before ending their expedition in Esbjerg, Denmark.

In 2017, some 400,000 visitors came to admire dozens of exceptional sailing ships.

Hundreds of sailors from all over the world will be there to greet visitors. Captains will allow the general public to access to their ships especially for the event, free-of-charge. As visitors would expect of one of the highlights of the 2025 Un Été Au Havre season, these large-scale festivities also include a village with entertainment and concerts, a parade of crew members, the big parade as boats leave the bay of Le Havre, and plenty of other surprises that will be announced at a later date.

The Tall Ships Races are organised by Sail Training International and are international races for tall ships. These races are designed to encourage international cooperation and training for young people in the art of sailing in a festive, sporting competition. The races are held annually in Europe and consist of various legs, each covering several hundred nautical miles, with festivities in between each leg. Monohull sailing ships measuring between 9.14 m and over 100 m in length take part. The departure of The Tall Ships Races from Le Havre at the beginning of July 2025 will be the first of the three biggest events in Europe involving historic sailing ships.