The Palm Beach International Boat Show 2026 opens on 25 March in West Palm Beach, Florida, and is scheduled to close on 29 March, according to Boat International. It is the first major US boat show of the year after the Fort Lauderdale and Düsseldorf shows, and it functions as an early read on how the American buyer is approaching the 2026 season.
Table of Contents
- What is confirmed about the 2026 edition
- Where it sits on the US boat show calendar
- What industry numbers showed going into the show
- How this show compares with the rest of the season
- Why Florida remains the barometer
- FAQ
What Is Confirmed About the 2026 Edition
Boat International confirms only the essentials for this edition: the show runs 25–29 March 2026 in West Palm Beach, on Florida's Atlantic coast. As of this article's publication on 30 March, organizers had not released exhibitor counts, the number of boats on display, or total attendance — unlike other shows from the same season that published full wrap reports once their editions closed. This report therefore covers what is fixed on the calendar and the broader context the show sits within, without estimating figures the organizers have not yet made public.
Where It Sits on the US Boat Show Calendar
The Palm Beach International Boat Show 2026 arrives roughly five months after the close of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS), the country's most established in-water showcase. FLIBS's 66th edition opened on 29 October 2025 and closed on 2 November after a five-day run across the Bahia Mar and Broward County Convention Center complex, drawing more than 1,300 boats and more than 1,000 exhibitors — figures detailed in FLIBS 2025: 1,300 Boats and a Read on the US Market. Palm Beach effectively opens the Southeast's spring show calendar, ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season, which does not resume until June.
What Industry Numbers Showed Going Into the Show
Two separate reports shaped the picture of the superyacht market heading into the 2026 edition. Brokerage Denison Yachting published its "2025 Year in Review" on 3 February 2026: 470 yachts of 24 metres/79 feet or more sold globally in 2025, up 19.9% from 392 the year before, with an average deal size around $8.49 million and a median close to $5 million, according to the Denison Yachting report. On the manufacturing side, the Ferretti Group had already flagged, in its first-half 2025 results, consolidated revenue of €620.4 million (+1.5%) against a backdrop of US-EU tariff uncertainty that, according to the same results as reported by Boat International, was weighing on the yacht industry — a relevant backdrop for a US show displaying both domestic brands and European-built imports.
How This Show Compares With the Rest of the Season
The table below gathers what each show from the 2025–2026 season actually disclosed, to place Palm Beach 2026 on the calendar without inventing numbers the organizers have not published:
| Event | Confirmed dates | Location | Disclosed figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Beach International Boat Show 2026 | 25-29 March 2026 | West Palm Beach, Florida | Not disclosed as of this article's publication |
| FLIBS 2025 | 29 October-2 November 2025 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | 1,300+ boats, 1,000+ exhibitors |
| boot Düsseldorf 2026 | 17-25 January 2026 | Düsseldorf, Germany | 198,988 visitors over nine days |
| Monaco Yacht Show 2025 | 24-27 September 2025 | Port Hercule, Monaco | 29,956 visitors; $2.9 billion fleet for sale |
These figures, already covered in boot Düsseldorf 2026 and Monaco Yacht Show 2025, show most major shows from the period published a closing report soon after they ended — a pattern Palm Beach 2026 had not followed, at least in the sources available to this newsroom.
Why Florida Remains the Barometer
Florida concentrates the densest cluster of boat shows in the United States because it brings together, along a single stretch of coastline, shipyards, marinas, brokerages and the country's largest community of large-yacht owners. São Paulo Boat Show 2025, Latin America's largest indoor nautical event, closed in September with more than 750 boats sold, a 7.1% increase over the prior edition, as detailed in our earlier coverage — another example of a national show doubling as a barometer of its own market.
FAQ
When and where is the Palm Beach International Boat Show 2026? 25-29 March 2026, in West Palm Beach, Florida, as confirmed by Boat International. It is the show that opens the Southeast's spring calendar, roughly five months after FLIBS closed in Fort Lauderdale.
How many boats and exhibitors does the 2026 edition include? Organizers had not disclosed those figures as of this article's publication on 30 March 2026. For comparison, FLIBS 2025 in Fort Lauderdale drew more than 1,300 boats and more than 1,000 exhibitors over five days in October and November 2025.
Is the Palm Beach Boat Show bigger than FLIBS? It cannot be compared with precision: FLIBS 2025 published boat and exhibitor counts, but the Palm Beach International Boat Show 2026 had not released equivalent figures in the sources checked for this report. FLIBS is generally treated by the trade press as the largest in-water show in the United States.
Was the superyacht market strong heading into the show? The latest indicators suggested so. Brokerage Denison Yachting recorded 470 yachts of 24 metres or more sold globally in 2025, up 19.9% from 2024, with an average deal size near $8.49 million, according to a report published in February 2026.
Does US-EU tariff uncertainty affect the yachts on display? It is a relevant factor for the industry as a whole: the Ferretti Group explicitly cited US-EU tariff uncertainty in its first-half 2025 results. Since much of the larger-yacht supply sold in the United States is built in Europe, import tariffs affect final pricing and margins for both shipyards and dealers.
Is there an equivalent show in Brazil? The closest parallel is the pairing of the São Paulo Boat Show, Latin America's largest indoor nautical event, and the Rio Boat Show, an open-air showcase at Marina da Glória. São Paulo Boat Show 2025 closed with more than 750 boats sold, up 7.1% from the prior edition.
Why does Florida host so many boat shows? Florida's coastline concentrates shipyards, marinas, brokerages and one of the largest communities of large-yacht owners in the United States, which sustains more than one significant show in the state each year — FLIBS in the fall and the Palm Beach International Boat Show at the turn from winter to spring.
Further Reading
To follow the full boat show season, see FLIBS 2025: 1,300 Boats and a Read on the US Market, boot Düsseldorf 2026 Closes With 198,988 Visitors, Monaco Yacht Show 2025 Closes With 29,956 Visitors, São Paulo Boat Show 2025: More Than 750 Boats Sold and our Year in Review and 2026 Yachting Calendar. For the international charter fleet, see Voguer Yachts; for Brazil's coastline, Voguer lists options by region.
