The Grandeur of SAIL Amsterdam : In pictures

So I know that I have been a bit late on this one since SAIL Amsterdam 2015 ended nearly 3 weeks back but things have been a bit crazy with work, a new house and the general settling in, in a new country. But, this is a post I just HAD to share even if it is untimely, mainly because I have never seen anything like this before, and I doubt if I ever will.

SAIL Amsterdam as the name suggests is a sailing event (duh!), and one would question as to what is so special about it. And question I did, ignorant me 🙂 It is MIND BLOWING to say the least, in beauty and in scale. And while I (and my last generations) have no connection to sailing whatsoever , I still enjoyed this event tremendously! What really made my experience exceptional was the SAIL-IN ceremony, which is the epitome of “grand”, “scale” and “beauty”.

Since it’s first edition in 1975, SAIL Amsterdam has grown to become the largest public event in the Netherlands and the largest free nautical event in the world. Conducted once every 5 years, the event is meant to honor the history of the Dutch maritime industry.

This year, SAIL Amsterdam took place from 19th to 23rd August 2015. The SAIL-IN parade marks the beginning of this event, in which over 50 tall ships, many Dutch naval vessels and hundreds of small boats sail together towards Amsterdam. Yes, together my friends, now I know that there can be traffic jams of a different kind :-P.

The five day event is full of music, food, night fireworks, performaces etc. which are seen by hundreds and thousands. I also went once during the night to experience the fireworks, and while it was nice to walk around, for me it wasn’t a match to the experience of being on a ship and sailing with hundreds of boats, up, close and personal.

Enjoy the pictures!