The Venice International Boat Show 2022, last from May 28 to June 5, in the spectacular structures of the city’s Arsenal, symbol of the power and military power of the Serenissima Republic and the heart of its naval industry which has allowed it to be one of the greatest maritime powers for centuries. Visitors was be able to admire more than 240 boats, and also participate in numerous events and conferences with themes relating to boating, the environment, sustainability and more.
The Venice International Boat Show, also known as the Festival of the Sea, is an annual exhibition of pleasure boating held in Venice in June at the Venice Arsenal. It was held for the first time in 2002 and, starting from a local market dimension, in a few editions it has reached a national and international rank, constantly expanding. The Venice Boat Show is promoted by the Municipality of Venice and realized through the company Vela spa, in collaboration with the Italian Navy.
Venice hosts one of the main international trade fairs dedicated to boating. The exhibition venue is the Arsenale of Venice, a symbol of the centuries-old military domination of the Serenissima Republic of Venice and the beating heart of its naval industry. An incomparable historical context right in the centre of Venice, consisting of a water basin and fully restored ancient pavilions.
The exhibition spaces of 50,00 square metres are distributed over a water basin, with over 1,000 linear metres of piers for exhibition, 240 moorings dedicated to yachts and super-yachts, sailboats and other types of boats. A 30.000 square metres outdoor and 5.000 square metres indoor exhibition space. The excellences of international pleasure boating are present, including many world premieres.
The event in 2022, whose claim is “Naval art comes home”, takes place in the setting of the Ancient Arsenal of Venice, a space that has hosted, for many centuries, the most important shipbuilding plant in the world and which represented the true fulcrum of the maritime power of the Serenissima Republic. The exhibition affect a large part of the naval base of the Navy, home to the Institute of Maritime Military Studies (ISMM), an important training center and cultural center of the Armed Force whose centenary was celebrated last year.
The excellences of international yachting was present at the event, which is the reference nautical event for the eastern Mediterranean quadrant. For the 2022 edition, many “world premières” are announced, with particular attention paid to eco-sustainability. An event that explores every aspect of sailing and shipbuilding: design, motors, sustainability. The Venice Boat Show is promoted by the City of Venice and realized through Vela spa company, in collaboration with the Italian Navy.
In this exceptional exhibit, where the best of national and international naval production can be admired, visitors also immerse themselves in the glorious history of Venice and understand how Venice was one of the greatest maritime powers thanks to its flourishing naval industry. The boat fair also host many events including shows, guided tours to the most representative places in Venice’s naval history, presentations, talks and themed tours in different areas of the city.
Venice Boat Show 2022
The third edition of the Venice Boat Show wraps up on a high note, with over 30 thousand visitors in the space of nine days and the confirmation of the vocation for sustainability. The Boat show confirming the city’s role as the capital of the sea and strengthening its candidacy as World Sustainability Capital.
300 boats, 240 of which were in the water, for a total length of 2.7 kilometres, 200 exhibitors, over 2000 operators, 500 staff members, 402 accredited journalists, and more than 50 cultural and in-depth events including conferences and talk shows, most of which dedicated to the theme of sustainability, the health of the sea, and new electric and hybrid propulsion systems: the 2022 Boat Show has succeeded in its objectives,
Pleasure boating came out stronger and, being a guest of the Serenissima, showed its best image. The boat has been an intimate place, a private island, a place where to experience affection and share peaceful moments but also where to experiment, to talk about the future and technology.
The event was supported by the Italian Government and the Veneto Region by being officially opened by the Minister of Public Administration Renato Brunetta, and visited by the Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti, the Minister of Economy and Finance Daniele Franco, the Governor of the Veneto Region Luca Zaia, and Roberto Luongo, General Director of the Italian Trade Agency. The event was also held in close cooperation with the Italian Navy, which granted the area of the Arsenale of Venice.
With this Boat Show the sea lovers responded to the call and demonstrated the allure of sailing. It was a well-attended Boat Show, full of green technological innovations. Boating is one of the sectors that perform best in our country and for which Italy holds a world record. The Venice Boat Show continue to develop its vocation for sustainability: the interest of many companies looking to the future and to green nautical transport.
At the third edition of the Boat Show the three big Italian groups, Ferretti Group, Azimut Benetti, Sanlorenzo, as well as Sunseeker and Beneteau, participated enthusiastically. The Wally brand presented a world preview of the Wallytender58. Absolute demonstrated to believe in the event by bringing a large part of its production, as did Sessa, Frauscher with its hybrid production, and many others. The participating shipyards and dealers are satisfied. From Timone Yacht, which, through various companies, represents many brands and above all the Azimut Benetti group.
Moreover, the 2022 Venice Boat Show has been the spotlight for TV products and the launch of traditional city events such as the Festa della Sensa and the Vogalonga. On Sunday 29 May, Tgr Rai did a live coverage with guests and services. Then, on Friday 3 and Saturday 4 June, the city was the venue for ‘Live In’, the Sky TG24 format, two days of live broadcasts, interviews and discussions with national and international personalities from the worlds of politics, economics, science, culture and entertainment.
Highlights
The 2022 edition of the Venice Boat Show was held at the Arsenale, which thus wants to be deeply connected to the history and ancient maritime tradition of Venice. The Venice Boat Show, presented with the title “Naval art comes home”, wants to become a reference event for the entire Eastern Mediterranean with the aim of becoming the largest boating event. The Arsenal provide a water basin of 50,000 square meters in all, of which 20,000 was for the exhibition and pavilions for a total of approximately 6,000 meters for indoor exhibition. Some areas of the Arsenale was specially restored for the event.
Sustainability and environmental impact, or mobility and electric, hybrid and innovative motors with the participation of several dozen Italian and European shipyards;
Sailing Yacht, the novelty of 2022 is presented with a 96 linear meter double-sided jetty, entirely dedicated to the sailing boats of the most prestigious international and Italian shipyards;
Motor Yacht, with boats from 15 to 40 meters in length that was exhibited in the “main yacht riviera” and in the new piers under construction.
A special section is dedicated to boats with electric propulsion, which also be the protagonists of a race, the E-Regatta.
The Candela foiling motorboat also be protagonists, a very interesting solution for Venice due to the reduced production of wave motion and Anvera E-Lab, an electrically-powered offshore that try to break the speed record with an electric motor. Goal exceed 100 km / h.
Area Piazzale della Campanella – Exhibition of historic, military and traditional Venetian boats.
Main Yacht Riviera – Exhibition in the Dock of the Darsena Grande with moorings for boats from 10 to 50 meters. The area was equipped with electricity and water and an area dedicated to reception can be organized.
Open Air Fair – Exhibition in the Dock of the Darsena Grande with moorings for boats up to 10 meters. The area was equipped with electricity and water and an area dedicated to reception can be organized.
Brim of the tassels – 3 large areas for a total of 3,500 square meters was present in a completely restored environment, respecting the original and historical structure. Here there was exhibition modules with sizes ranging from 6 to 128 square meters.
Events
The exhibition inside the Venice Arsenal continues with numerous events scheduled to bring the little ones closer to this sector but also to deepen, to all enthusiasts and the curious, issues related to the world of boats, sustainability and of all-round innovation in the naval sector.
The Boat Show was the stage for various sporting events taking place in the 30th year of the victory of the Moro di Venezia, testimonial of the Boat Show: the Louis Vuitton Cup, which was displayed in one of the Tese, as well as the Salone Nautico Venezia Cup regatta, organised with the Compagnia della Vela, that saw the victory of Circolo Velico Bibione in its first edition, and the fifth Micro Class Italian Championship.
There was the arrival in the Arsenale of the Voga Posse, an adventure that brought some fifteen Milanese professionals down the river Po with their slender coxed four. Then the E-Regatta, which was dedicated to electric-powered boats in its various trials, organised by Assonautica with the Venice Motonautica Association, in its second edition. The Boat Show was also an opportunity to present the new E-1 sports competition, desired by Alejandro Agag and Robi Basso, which feature one-design Race Bird electric-powered boats, whose first registered crew is the Venice Racing Team.
Finally, the Venetian navy was the protagonist with a tesa dedicated to local shipbuilding and many shipyards presented their boats in the outdoor spaces. The “Nuovo Trionfo”, the Venice Gondoliers’ Association and courses for children in rowing and sailing enriched the event’s programme.
The Navy
The Navy was present at the Show with two stands and some naval units. Nave Procida and Nave Tedeschi was moored inside the Darsena dell’Arsenale. The first is a specialized unit for the support of lighthouses and maritime signaling, the second is a Polyvalent Unit employed in support of the operations of the Special Forces. In the last days of the Show, Nave Comandante Foscari also be present, the last of the four offshore patrol vessels of the Commander Class.
On Saturday 28 May, on the occasion of the opening ceremony, the Incursors of the Underwater Command and Incursors (COMSUBIN) perform a precision parachute launch from two helicopters of the Navy Air Forces, ending their descent into the waters of the Arsenal.
The Navy was present at the Show with institutional stands and some naval units: Procida ship, Tedeschi ship and Commander Foscari ship. In the first stand of the Navy, it was possible to meet the personnel of the specialized components: Naval Aviation pilots, submariners, operators of the Special Forces and of the Marina San Marco Brigade, the Amphibious Force of the Navy, which has an indissoluble bond with Venice and which has as its its emblem the Lion of San Marco; While the second stand was dedicated to the Hydrographic Institute of the Navy, which this year celebrates 150 years of activity in the service of the country.
The Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, through its educational department MUVE Education, offers a series of guided activities and itineraries, aimed at families with children and the adult public to discover the Enrico Dandolo submarine and the contiguous air-raid shelter of the second world War.
In conjunction with the inauguration of the Exhibition, the Institute of Maritime Military Studies organized, in collaboration with the Ca ‘Foscari University and Venice International University (VIU), the conference entitled: “Mare liberum, mare clausum. Forty years since the Montego Bay Convention on the Law of the Sea “. During the same, divided into two days of work, the first (May 27) in the Sala Squadratori of the Arsenale, the second (May 28) at the headquarters of the Venice International University on the Island of San Servolo, nature and the objectives of the Montego Bay Convention to highlight to what extent the latter, as a “living law”, has responded to the challenges posed by the reality, even transnational, of contemporary international law and the “blue economy”.
The conference was animated by leading experts on the subject from the institutional, academic, business and diplomatic world. The meeting is part of a series of initiatives that the Navy is conducting to spread maritime culture in our country and to promote public opinion, at all levels, greater awareness of the centrality of the sea for the our security and for the support of our socio-economic system.
The National Archaeological Museum
“The art of shipbuilding is back home” in the area of the Arsenale in Venice, from May 28th to June 5th 2022. The National Archaeological Museum of Venice is making its contribution to the event, dialoguing with the Venice Boat Show about those artworks which are connected with water and sea themes. Discover about faraway places, ships and underwater finds.
L’arzanà de’ Viniziani (the Venetian dockyard as mentioned by Dante Alighieri) is one of the symbolic places of the city, the factory of the maritime power that assured to the Serenissima the supremacy of the trading routes towards the Levant. Its commercial and maritime supremacy also results in a self-representation through the spolia and vestoge of antiques that comes to Venice along with the galleys and show off in public spaces and in the aristocratic palaces.
Green exhibition
The focus of the event was sustainability. When it comes to events management, it is essential to evaluate how they impact on our society, economy, and environment. As far as Sustainable Events Management is concerned, several are the elements that needs to be taken into account, such us: the way in which garbage was collected, how transports and raw materials was organized and how human resources was employed. This initiative provide the chance to raise awareness among participants of the importance to protect and safeguard environmental, cultural and economic commodities.
“Venezia Capitale Mondiale della Sostenibilità” embodies Sustainability in the Lagoon area, also through the many events managed by VELA Spa. This management approach aims at providing an environmental, economic, social and urban model for the sustainable development of the territory. Venice becomes an open-air laboratory looking to the future; a place of innovation and cultural and technological avant-garde from a sustainable perspective. Events implemented in the city context and according to Venetian tradition gain worldwide visibility and in this way become a showcase and a real example of how the dynamics of sustainable evolution can be inserted, even in such a complex and unique territory.
The E-Village of the boat show in a wide series of hybrid and electric projects, which had already characterized since the first edition. The figure of the diver among the protagonists of the Venice Boat Show 2022 to talk about the protection of lagoon waters. On World Environment Day, the gondoliers, volunteer divers, dived for demonstration purposes in the waters of the Arsenale, in Rio delle Galeazze, with both vintage and modern equipment. Periodically these underwater athletes clean up the canals of Venice bringing to the surface tons of unimaginable waste: boilers, bicycles, sinks, outboard motors and so on and so forth. Their activity is precious for the health of the lagoon and also for the image of a beautiful and clean Venice.