La Semaine du Golfe since 2001

Origins

At the end of the 90s, the Conseil Général was thinking of giving Morbihan an original maritime event, highlighting the nautical and cultural assets of the Gulf, to be held before the high season and open to the general public free of charge. In 1998, Polig Belenfant (Deputy Director General of the Conseil Général) and William Vogel (Director of the Office de Tourisme d'Arzon), both experienced sailors and connoisseurs of the Gulf, got in touch and began initial discussions with the specialist company Grand-Large (Jakez Kerhoas and Anne Burlat). Shortly afterwards, Grand Large was entrusted with the feasibility study and project development for the first edition of the “Semaine du Golfe” 2001. 

Producer

The Département du Morbihan with the support of its public and private partners.

Directors

The “Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan” non-profit association (law 1901)
Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Franck David
Chairman of the Management Board: Thierry Verneuil

This organizing association operates under the aegis of an “Executive Board” made up of representatives of the founding members and maritime personalities, and employs a professional team.

Synopsis

An international maritime festival, bringing together boats with “character”, taking place over the whole week of Ascension Day and spread across the entire Gulf of Morbihan.

Natural decor

12,000 hectares of Atlantic sheltered from the swell in Southern Brittany, the Golfe du Morbihan is a veritable little inland sea. It's a magical place where sea, land and sky combine to create changing, unusual landscapes. The Golfe du Morbihan is a member of the Club des Plus Belles Baies du Monde.

The “Mor-Bihan”, a little sea in Breton, was invaded by the Atlantic several millennia ago, by which time the rivers had already carved out their beds. That's why the ocean ventures so far inland, towards Vannes and Auray, through rias with their typically Breton character, encircling the ancient hills to form a veritable archipelago: Ile aux Moines, Ile d'Arz, countless islets and islets, rocky or wooded, sometimes bearing a fishing hamlet or simply swarms of birds.

Only a kilometre-wide gulf between Port-Navalo en Arzon and Locmariaquer separates the “Mor-Bihan” from the ocean. Vannes, at the far end of the Gulf, is 25 kilometers from the open sea.

The particular geography and physical characteristics of this exceptional Golfe du Morbihan (tides, currents, eddies) determine and punctuate the entire nautical program of the event.

Casting

Traditional and classic sailboats, in other words boats of character, French and European. Sailboats from the French Atlantic coast are in the majority, but the event also attracts large numbers from the Mediterranean, English Cornwall and the North Sea...

Since its 4th edition in 2007, the “Semaine du Golfe” has welcomed a “Guest of Honor” region each time, presenting a beautiful flotilla representative of its maritime culture (the Alpes Maritimes in 2007, Wales in 2009, the Spanish Basque Country in 2011, the Netherlands in 2013 and Croatia in 2015.  In 2017, a European Maritime Heritage Village brought together the Netherlands, Occitania, the Opal Coast, the Basque Country, Occitania, Ireland, Italy and Croatia. In 2019, we've put Norway and Venice in the spotlight.

For the 2025 edition, the “Semaine du Golfe” supports the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Carnac megaliths and the Morbihan shores, and has made this its major theme.

Actors

• Registered crews (some 5000 sailors in 2019). All these sailors are pure amateurs who come for the sheer pleasure of meeting and sailing in a splendid setting and authentic maritime atmosphere. They are guests of the “Semaine du Golfe” (registration is free) ,

• The clubs and sailing associations of the Gulf, who actively collaborate in the organization of the event on the water and take charge of the supervision of the regattas ,

• Volunteers from local associations, who provide hospitality and services to sailors and visitors alike.

• And also the musicians and exhibitors.

Scenario

• The boats entered (more than a thousand in 2019) are divided into 13 homogeneous and clearly identifiable flotillas: yawls and sail-oar boats, classic yachts, old fishing and working sailboats... as well as some thirty spectacular 20 to 40m sailing ships from Europe's maritime heritage (three-masters, brigs, schooners, etc.). Each day, each flotilla follows its own navigation program, calling in at a different port each evening.

• Member towns host the flotillas on an alternating basis: Arradon, Arzon, Auray, Baden, Crac'h, Hoedic, Houat, Ile d'Arz, Ile aux Moines, Larmor-Baden, Le Bono, Le Hézo, Locmariaquer, Plougoumelen, Saint Armel, Saint Gildas de Rhyus, Sarzeau, Séné, Vannes. Some communes provide a single or multiple evening and night stopover. Others only welcome boats for a mid-day picnic stop.  

• The opening parade on Monday and the grand finale parade on Saturday: all the boats in all the flotillas come together for a breathtaking nautical spectacle that many local yachtsmen come to experience on the water, and that the public can contemplate from the shore.

• The “Semaine du Golfe” never forgets the general public, and offers all the ingredients of a great popular maritime festival:

  • Exhibitions and events under marquees and in the open air,

  • Oyster tastings, grilled fish and local produce,

  • Model making and sailing models,

  • Music in all its forms (brass bands, jazz bands, Celtic music, choirs, folk and sailors' songs, etc.),

  • Night-time entertainment: concerts, festou-noz, popular dances and fireworks displays,

  • Walking trails all along the coast for family outings.

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