What is SAIL Amsterdam?
SAIL Amsterdam is a festival that truly represents Amsterdam’s spirit: a past (and present) connected to water, to sailing and adventures, a love for exploring and openness to new people and ideas. It’s a maritime festival where, for a couples of days, hundreds of ships from the entire world gather in Amsterdam’s port. These can be tall ships (old and new), historical replicas, luxury yachts or even a submarine!
The slogan for SAIL Amsterdam 2025: United by Waves!
SAIL starts with the Sail-In parade, when all the tall ships come from the docks on IJmuiden, on the North Sea Canal all the way to Amsterdam. They are accompanied by thousands of boats of all sizes, and it makes for an amazing start of the festival. The tall ships will be moored in Amsterdam’s port for five days, time when the visitors can roam around freely, admiring these boats, visit them with guided tours and participate in various activities. On the last day, the Sail-Out parade takes place — all boats sail back to IJmuiden and to their next destination.
I’ve experienced SAIL festival only once since I moved to the Netherlands, and I fell in love with it from the moment I’ve seen the Sail-In parade – a line of tall ships sailing into the city. I was eagerly awaiting the next edition after that, but I had to wait more than five years because the Corona pandemic changed everyone’s plans. But this year is the year! SAIL is coming again to Amsterdam, and we will have the joy of watching and exploring tall ships and boats of all sizes for a total of five days in August!
SAIL Amsterdam was first held in 1975, as a way of marking the anniversary of 700 years of Amsterdam’s existence. Since then, the city organised the festival every five years, except for 2020, when it had to be postponed because of the pandemic. Each edition brings millions of visitors to Amsterdam’s port, which makes it the largest freely accessible event in Europe.
When is SAIL Amsterdam 2025
SAIL 2025 will take place on 20-24 August and is a triple anniversary: the 10th edition of the festival, 50 years of SAIL, and Amsterdam’s 750th birthday. Under the slogan “United by Waves”, around 20 different nationalities and cultures come together during these five days. You can check on SAIL website which tall ships are coming to Amsterdam this year.
What can you do at SAIL Amsterdam 2025
There are various activities organised for the duration of the festival, and most of them are free to attend. The event site will be divided in five “oceans”, each with its own theme. The Orange Ocean: the area around the IJhaven where most international Tall Ships are located. Red: for substantive, in-depth programming around the living room of SAIL: the naval site and the Maritime Museum. White: the area around the Adam tower. Green: the NDSM site, which is dedicated to sustainability and the future of the (nautical) world. Blue: the only “ocean” that is not accessible to the public, the western harbour area from where the business cruises depart.
SAIL 2025 program
- The Sail-In parade will be on 20 August (from 10:00-19:00). The parade starts at Zeesluis IJmuiden with the official starting shot. At the end of the day, the ships will be welcomed in the city, where they will moor at the quays in the Orange Ocean. During the parade, the flags of all participating countries will be raised on the IJ side of Amsterdam Central Station. An important moment during the Sail-In parade is the “Saluut Protocollair” (Ceremonial Salute): each tall ship is ceremonially welcomed as it enters IJhaven with a powerful salute shot and the national anthem of the country of origin. As a novelty for 2025, each national anthem will be accompanied by fireworks in the national colours. Don’t miss it, as it’s an impressive view to see all the tall ships that gathered at IJmuiden and sailed on the North Sea Canal all the way to Amsterdam.
- Visit the tall ships! My favourite! During the festival, the ships will be moored in Amsterdam’s port, and you can see them up-close. You can also visit some of the tall ships and meet their crew (on 21-23 August). All ships are freely accessible during the day and a selection of the ships remain open in the evening until 23:00.
- Sailing Heritage: Fleet Review (Orange Ocean, Thursday 21 August, 08:00-12:00). On Thursday morning you can enjoy a unique parade on the water: the Fleet Review of Sailing Heritage. Around a hundred classic ships sail in formation towards the Stenen Hoofd and then to the SAILSation area: from botters to skûtsjes and from clippers to tjalks. You will hear the story of each of these ships, as a tribute to the maritime history of the Netherlands.
- SAILSation (Orange Ocean, Thursday to Sunday, 09:00-21:00). Water sport competitions and demonstrations on the area along the Surinamekade.
- SAIL Kids Club (Orange Ocean, all SAIL days, 10:00-18:00). Kids can learn to sail under supervision or get an introduction to water sports and other activities.
- Evenings will be for concerts, light shows and fireworks. At SAIL On Stage, on the Green Ocean, Wednesday to Saturday, a show of music and dance will close the day.
- Waves of Light (White Ocean, visible from all oceans, Wednesday to Saturday 22:30-22:45). A show of lights will also wrap up every day of SAIL. This is a mix of light, fireworks and visual storytelling around the A’DAM Tower. The show can be seen from all SAIL Oceans along the IJ; it lasts exactly 750 seconds (12.5 minutes), a tribute to 750 years of Amsterdam.
- The Maritime Museum (Het Scheepvaartmuseum) will be freely accessible during those five days of the festival.
- Sit-down Café (White Ocean, all SAIL days, 13:00-21:00). In the Sit-down Café you dance, drink, sing and laugh with each other at eye level, whether you are in a wheelchair or not. Because here, everyone is equal. The Sit-down Café is powered by HandicapNL and can be found in the middle of the White Ocean.
- Pieremachocheltocht (Red Ocean, Thursday 21 August, 13:00-17:00). You won’t want to miss this cheerful fleet of self-built vessels! It’s a unique parade of self-built, creative, often crazy boats that bear little resemblance to a classic ship. Anything goes, as long as it floats. Live music will be played along while the vessels parade through the city. Participation is free, so if you feel brave or ingenious, you can register on the festival’s website. A jury will judge the ships on originality, appearance and bad luck – because even that can win a prize. Route: Entrepotdok —> Nieuwe Vaart —> Singelgracht —> Amstel —> Nieuwe Keizersgracht —> Plantage Muidergracht —> Entrepotdok.
Tickets: you don’t need a general entrance ticket to access the harbour area, but there are some activities that require booking a ticket, like special cruises, concerts or visiting the ships. If you are looking for some special cruises, to feel more in the middle of the action, you can get yourself a ticket here:
- You can also go to SAIL with your own boat, just make sure to check the rules on the festival’s website (and be ready for very crowded waters). You’ll need the canal sailing vignette to enter the IJhaven. This vignette gives recreational boating (max. 15 meters and 13 people, including skipper) access to the IJhaven five times during SAIL.
- Sail-Out parade will be the closing event on 24 August (from 14:00-19:00). We will say goodbye to the SAIL fleet, and the tall ships will leave back to IJmuiden on formation. Don’t forget to bring your white handkerchief to wave to the amazing crew that leaves to the next destination.
To stay up-to-date with everything, you can install the SAIL App on your phone.
Where is SAIL Amsterdam?
From Amsterdam Central Station, walk along the IJ to IJhaven. More than 800 ships from 24 countries are announced, so they will cover a large area of the harbour. It will be very easy to find! It is recommended that you go there by public transport, as it will be very, very busy.
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