Biograd Boat Show 2026 (28th edition)
- Date
- 21 – 25 October 2026
Central Europe's largest in-water boat show fills Marina Kornati for five days: over 400 exhibitors and around 500 vessels, most of them afloat along the pontoons and open to step aboard.
Checked: 18 October 2026, 16:30
At the Biograd Boat Show boats are shown in the water of Marina Kornati and on land. Those afloat are tied up along the pontoons, and visitors walk the docks and step aboard. The 28th edition runs from 21 to 25 October 2026, with over 400 exhibitors and around 500 vessels, which makes it the largest in-water show in this part of Europe.
Who it is for
- Anyone chartering next season: the fleets that operate in Croatia show what will be on the water in summer, and this is the month when the deals for the following year are made.
- The trade: the Croatia Charter Expo runs alongside on 21 and 22 October, a meeting point for charter fleets, brokers and suppliers. That is the B2B part, separate from the public days.
- Anyone who simply likes boats: walking the pontoons of a full marina in October, with the season over and the water still warm, is worth the drive on its own.
Getting to Biograd
Biograd na Moru sits between Zadar and Šibenik, half an hour from Zadar airport and about three and a half hours from Zagreb on the A1. The marina is in the centre of town and walkable from everywhere in it. October rooms are cheap and plentiful, except during the show itself, so book before you drive.
How the show works
The show takes over Marina Kornati, which sits in the middle of Biograd beside the town harbour, so you walk in from the riva. A day ticket costs 12 €, and children under 12 go in free. Tickets are sold at the north and west entrances of the marina and online on entrio.hr. The show is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00. Inside, the boats are tied up along the pontoons, and the exhibitors selling engines, electronics, sails, ropes and insurance have stands in tents on the hard standing around the basin. You can step aboard most of the boats, always with a member of the exhibitor's staff and always in shoes that will not mark a deck: trainers with pale soles or proper deck shoes. Heels and black soles get you stopped at the gangway. The Croatia Charter Expo on 21 and 22 October is a trade fair with its own accreditation, so do not expect to walk into its meetings.
The pontoons are quiet on weekday mornings and full on Saturday afternoon, when day visitors from Zadar and Split arrive. If you want time on a particular boat, come on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday before 12:00, find the fleet's stand first and ask for a slot. Some exhibitors take serious buyers out for a short sea trial in the Pašman channel, worth asking about if you are choosing a charter yacht for next summer, and a further reason to bring a jacket. Allow 3 to 4 hours for a proper walk of every pontoon and the tents, more if you stop for coffee on the riva, where the bars stay open through the show and fill with crews after 18:00. The weekend evenings in Hall B are free: Daleka Obala Jakše i Hrepe play on Friday 23 October from 21:45, and on Saturday 24 October the Orion fireworks start at 21:30, followed by Cubismo at 21:45.
Parking and moving around town
Biograd is small enough that nothing is more than 15 minutes on foot. The marina is at the centre, the old town sits on a low peninsula just south of it, and the riva runs along the harbour between them. There is no parking inside Marina Kornati during the show, so use the public car parks along the main road at the edge of town and walk down, and on Saturday arrive early. The bus station is on that main road, about a 5-minute walk from the marina, with regular buses from Zadar and fewer from Šibenik. From Zadar airport there is no direct bus: take a taxi or a booked transfer, or the airport bus into Zadar and a second bus down the coast. The car ferry to Tkon on Pašman leaves from the harbour next to the marina.
| From | Distance | How | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zadar | 30 km | Bus or car on the coast road | 30 to 45 minutes |
| Šibenik | 50 km | Bus or car on the coast road | about 45 minutes by car |
| Split | about 120 km | A1 motorway, then the local road to the coast | about 1 hour 30 minutes |
| Tkon, Pašman island | across the channel | Jadrolinija car ferry from the harbour | about 20 minutes |
| Sveti Filip i Jakov | 3 km north | Car, taxi or the coast path on foot | 5 minutes by car |
| Pakoštane | 5 km south | Car or taxi | 10 minutes by car |
Where to stay for the show
Exhibitors book the hotels next to the marina months ahead, and the Ilirija hotels along the shore go first, since the company that owns them also owns the marina and runs the show. That leaves private apartments in town, and it means booking the moment your dates are fixed. Stay in Biograd itself if you want to walk to the pontoons in the morning and to the riva at night. Sveti Filip i Jakov, 3 km north, and Pakoštane, 5 km south, are quieter, a short taxi ride away and easier to find a room in. Zadar is the choice for anyone who wants a city in the evening: hotels there stay open all year, the old town has more restaurants than the whole of Biograd, and the drive down the coast takes about 30 minutes.
Eating and drinking in Biograd
Biograd is a fishing town on a channel with an island in front of it, and the food follows: grilled fish, squid and shellfish on the riva, with lamb from the Ravni kotari plain and Benkovac wines as the inland alternative. The restaurants along the harbour and inside the marina stay open for the show because of the crowd it brings, though some summer places will already have closed for the winter by the last 10 days of October. Book a table for dinner on the show evenings, since 400 exhibitors and their crews eat out every night and the town does not have that many tables. Lunch is easier. The cafes around the marina basin do sandwiches and pizza, and the konobas put a marenda, the Dalmatian late-morning plate of a small hot dish with a glass of wine, on the board before the show gets busy.
Swimming, the lake and days out
The sea off Biograd holds about 20 degrees into the middle of October and is down to 18 or 19 by the show week, which is a swim for anyone from Britain and a paddle for anyone from Australia. Dražica, the town beach under the pines a 10-minute walk south of the marina, is the easiest, with Soline beyond it and Bošana north of the town. Vransko jezero, the largest natural lake in Croatia, starts 5 km south behind Pakoštane: a nature park with a cycle path round the shore, a bird reserve at the northern end and the Kamenjak viewpoint above the water with the Kornati islands on the horizon. Pašman is a 20-minute car ferry from the harbour beside the marina to Tkon, from where a single road runs the length of the island through villages that see few visitors in October.
| Where | Distance | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Vransko jezero | 5 km | Lake nature park, cycle path, birds, the Kamenjak viewpoint |
| Pašman island | 20-minute ferry | Quiet villages along the channel road from Tkon |
| Zadar | 30 km | The sea organ, the Roman forum, restaurants open all year |
| Šibenik | 50 km | The cathedral of St James, 2 fortresses, a quieter old town |
| Krka national park | about 45 km | Waterfalls at Skradinski buk with few people in late October |
| Kornati islands | by boat | Excursion boats run only in settled weather this late, ask on the quay |
Weather in show week and packing
Late October on this coast is warm in the afternoon and cool by the water at 08:00. Expect around 20 degrees on a good afternoon and 10 to 12 first thing, with more rain days in the second half of the month than the first. The wind decides the day. A bura from the north east brings clear skies, cold air and chop in the marina. A jugo from the south brings warm damp air, rain and a swell that makes the outer pontoons move under you. The show runs in both. A jugo afternoon empties the decks and fills the tents. The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October, the show's last day, so on that evening the light goes soon after 17:00. Pack layers, a waterproof, deck shoes and sunglasses, and check the DHMZ forecast the night before you drive.
Common mistakes
- Arriving on Saturday afternoon and expecting to board the popular catamarans: come on a weekday morning for that.
- Driving to the marina gate expecting a space: there is no parking inside Marina Kornati during the show, so park at the edge of town and walk.
- Booking the room after the flights: the exhibitors take the hotels first and Biograd has few of them.
- Assuming everything in town is open: this is the last week of the season and some restaurants have already shut.
- Turning up in heels or black-soled shoes and being stopped at the gangway.
- Planning a Kornati boat day without checking the wind, since the excursion boats stay in port on a jugo.
- Signing a charter contract on the pontoon without reading the deposit and cancellation terms, which vary between fleets.
Where next
About the event
Biograd Boat Show 2026 (28th edition)
The largest nautical fair in this part of the Adriatic, with boats on land and in the water at Marina Kornati in Biograd na Moru.
The biggest boat show on this part of the Adriatic
The 28th Biograd Boat Show fills the Marina Kornati from 21 to 25 October 2026, with boats both ashore and in the water. Autumn is when this market does its business: the season is over, the fleet is out, and what does not sell now overwinters. That makes it a working fair rather than a showroom, and the difference is visible in who is walking the pontoons.
Biograd out of season
Biograd na Moru was a royal seat in the eleventh century and was destroyed by Venice in 1125; what stands today is later and smaller. It faces the Pašman channel with the island directly opposite, and in late October the town has its own people back. The Kornati islands, whose name the marina borrows, are a national park, reached by boat from the marina.
How a visit works
Over 400 exhibitors take the berths and the hardstanding at Marina Kornati, and around 500 vessels are on display, most of them afloat. You walk the pontoons, choose a boat and ask to step aboard. On 21 and 22 October the Croatia Charter Expo runs alongside as a trade fair for charter fleets, brokers and suppliers, separate from the public show. If you plan to charter in 2027, the fleets that operate in Croatia bring the boats that will be on the water next summer, and October is when those deals are done. A day ticket costs 12 € at the north and west entrances or on entrio.hr, and children under 12 go in free. The show is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00.
Beyond the marina
The old town sits on a small peninsula 10 minutes on foot from the marina. The heritage museum there holds the cargo of a Venetian merchant ship that sank off the islet of Gnalić in 1583: glass, textiles, spectacles and brass, all raised from the seabed. The museum is currently temporarily closed, so check its website before planning a visit. The car ferry to Tkon on Pašman leaves from the harbour beside the marina, a short crossing. Inland, Vransko jezero is the largest natural lake in Croatia and a nature park, with a cycle track along the shore and a bird reserve at the northern end, a few km from town.
| Place | Distance | How to get there |
|---|---|---|
| Zadar | 30 km north | Bus or car, about 30 minutes |
| Šibenik | 50 km south | Bus or car, about 45 minutes |
| Pašman island | Across the channel | Car ferry from Biograd to Tkon |
| Krka national park | About 55 km | Car, about 60 minutes to Skradin |
Eating and practical notes
The waterfront and the streets behind it have restaurants that stay open through the show, most serving grilled fish, squid and meat with local wine. Some places close for the winter at the end of October, so do not count on every door being open on the last days. Late October is mild, with daytime temperatures usually between 15 and 20 degrees and the sea still warm enough to swim, but rain is more likely than in summer and the bura wind can make the outer pontoons cold. Croatia uses the euro and cards are accepted almost everywhere, though small konobas and parking meters may want cash.
- Flat, soft soled shoes: crews often ask you to take off hard soles or heels before stepping aboard.
- A waterproof and a warm layer, the wind on the outer pontoons is colder than in the streets.
- Passport or ID card if you intend to sign a charter contract on the spot.
- With children, keep hold of small ones on the pontoons and leave the pushchair at the hotel, gangways are narrow.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need to buy tickets for the Biograd Boat Show in advance?
- No. Day tickets cost 12 € at the north and west entrances of Marina Kornati, and you can also buy them in advance on entrio.hr. Children under 12 go in free. The show is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00. The trade days of the Croatia Charter Expo on 21 and 22 October are separate and need accreditation through the organiser.
- Can you go on board the boats?
- Yes, that is the point of an in-water show. Most yachts, catamarans and motorboats are open to step aboard with a member of the exhibitor's staff, who walks you through the deck and cabins. Wear shoes with pale soles, take them off if asked, and do not expect to board the largest motor yachts without an appointment.
- Is it worth going if I am not buying or chartering?
- Yes, if you like boats. Around 500 vessels in one marina, most of them afloat, is a rare sight, and the town, the riva and the warm sea make a good weekend anyway. Combine it with Zadar, the lake at Vrana or the ferry to Pašman and you have 2 or 3 days.
- Can you still swim in Biograd in late October?
- The sea is around 18 to 19 degrees in the show week, down from 20 in the first half of the month. That is fine for a short swim off Dražica on a calm afternoon after a bura has cleared the sky. After a day of jugo the water is churned and cooler, so pick the day.
- Should I stay in Biograd or in Zadar?
- Biograd if you want to walk to the pontoons and back to bed, and if you can find a room, since the exhibitors take most of the hotels. Zadar if you want a city in the evening, more restaurants and hotels open all year, at the cost of a 30-minute drive each way and parking on arrival.
- What happens if the weather is bad?
- The show goes on. The pontoons are exposed, so a jugo day means rain and moving docks, and the equipment tents ashore become the place to be. A bura day is clear, cold and windy. Bring a waterproof either way and check the DHMZ forecast the night before.
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