Around 2.5 million people celebrate SAIL in Amsterdam as tall ships depart

SAIL in Amsterdam, the five-day maritime festival, drew about 2.5 million visitors this year, organizers said, surpassing the 2.3 million who attended the previous edition in 2015.

The festival is concluding on Sunday with the SAIL-Out Parade, as the first tall ships and other historic vessels departed Amsterdam around 2 p.m. under heavy public attention. Crowds lined the quays along the IJ Harbor, while thousands of pleasure boats gathered to wave, applaud, and accompany the tall ships.

“It was all very relaxed and informal. The camaraderie on the water with all those ships, and the crew bringing a piece of their home country to our port, is truly unique,” said Mitra van Raalten, SAIL’s general director. “It was a magical SAIL, and it went by without incidents.”

Support vessels from Rijkswaterstaat, the Port of Amsterdam, and the police guided the ships over the water. The Clipper Stad Amsterdam, which led the SAIL-In Parade on Wednesday, brought up the rear.

Organizers reportedly expected nearly all vessels to have left the harbor by 4:30 p.m., sailing via the Noordzeekanaal toward the Zeesluis in IJmuiden and onward to the North Sea.

Earlier Sunday, the historic ships performed a final ceremonial sail on the IJ Harbor, the Admiraalzeilen, passing in formation around noon past the royal vessel Groene Draeck, with patron Prince Maurits aboard. Cannon fire and salutes marked the traditional symbolic close of the festival.

Held once every five years, the festival was postponed due to COVID-19, making this the first edition in a decade. SAIL’s general director Van Raalten confirmed that future editions will remain free to the public. “In principle, everyone who wants to enjoy it should be able to. That is the core and soul of SAIL,” she said.