Overview The Newport International Boat Show is a four-day in-water show on Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, and as the first major show of the fall boat season it is where builders bring their next model year for its U.S. debut. Powerboats, sailboats and multihulls, new and brokerage, sit at the docks together, with marine gear, electronics and services on land beside them. The show spreads over more than 17 acres of land and water across linked downtown sites: the Newport Yachting Center, Oldport Marine, Bannister's and Bowen's Wharves, Perry Mill Wharf and Market Square. Informa Markets owns and produces it. On site Boats lie stern-to or alongside on floating docks and finger piers, and a brokerage basin holds the used boats. Engines, electronics and accessories fill land spaces and a run of tents, with a Below Deck area at Hammetts. The show runs seminars, a Cruisers Classroom and in-water training sessions, and the Windward VIP Lounge sits apart from the docks. Doors open at 10 a.m. for four days. A shuttle bus runs to parking at Easton's Beach, water launches and the Jamestown ferry land at the site, and the harbor front outside the gate is Newport's restaurant and hotel district. Audience These are boat owners shopping. In a Performance Research survey of attendees, 74% already owned a boat and half of those were looking to buy, and 53% came mainly to buy or compare a specific boat or product. Three quarters had boated for 20 years or more, and 45% belonged to a private yacht, golf or tennis club. Track record The 2026 show was the 55th. Exhibitors from more than 21 countries took part in 2020. Richard Cromwell of Maritime Solutions, an exhibitor: "Our number one sales and marketing generator is at the Newport International Boat Show! We have been doing it for 30+ years and it never disappoints." Brand presence Most brands at Newport are there as exhibitors, on dock space, open land or in the tents. Newport for New Products, run with Cruising World, Sailing World and Yachting magazines, gives awards for the best new powerboat, sailboat and multihull and for new products in boat operation, safety and technology; accepted entries run in a special section of those magazines before the show and fly an NFNP burgee at their display. Above the exhibit floor, sponsorship covers official category status, the VIP reception and the exhibitor party.