Zoute Grand Prix 2026: what to see in Knokke-Heist this weekend
Knokke-Heist saves the best of its five-day car festival for the weekend
The 17th Zoute Grand Prix Car Week runs in Knokke-Heist until Sunday 11 October, and the organisers expect around half a million visitors in a town of about 32,000 residents. Everything that happens on the public road is free. The weekend carries the week's biggest moments: two auctions, the Concours d'Elegance, a Ferrari parade and the rally arrivals on Albertplein.
Zoute Grand Prix's Car Boulevard and rallies cost nothing to watch
Everything at the Zoute Grand Prix that takes place on the public road is free, and in 2026 that road stretches from Het Zoute all the way to Heist. The Car Boulevard, an open-air showcase of new models from the premium brands, sits right next to the Gallery on Albertplein. Four rallies run during the week and start and finish at the Gallery, with arrivals from 17:00 to 19:00 on Saturday and Sunday. On Friday, also from 17:00 to 19:00, a Ferrari parade runs between the Gallery and the Bonhams Marquee beside the Grand Casino.
Friday 9 October brings Broad Arrow's sale and King Baudouin's Cadillac
Broad Arrow's Zoute Concours Auction runs on Friday 9 October from 15:00 to 20:00 at the Green Grounds on the Approach Golf, and it carries the week's most Belgian lot: King Baudouin's 1951 Cadillac Series 62 parade car. The cars are on view at the Green Grounds from 10:00 to 18:00 until the sale begins, so Friday morning is the time to walk the lots before the bidding starts. The day ends with a Nocturne evening at the Gallery, after the Ferrari parade.
Zoute Concours puts King Leopold III's Bugatti Type 59 on the golf course
The Zoute Concours d'Elegance by ING Private Banking runs on Saturday from 11:00 to 18:00 and on Sunday from 9:00 to 18:00, with tickets from €30. Around 50 historic cars compete in nine classes, judged by an international jury on history, craftsmanship, elegance and authenticity, and Best of Show is awarded on Sunday. The car to see is the 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports that King Leopold III bought in 1937, still in the black and yellow Belgian colours applied at Molsheim that winter. Younger visitors get their own Kids Rally on Saturday and a Kids Concours on Sunday.
Bonhams' Sunday sale follows a €15 million Zoute record from 2025
The Zoute Sale by Bonhams closes the week on Sunday 11 October from 13:00 to 17:00, in the Marquee on the beach beside the Grand Casino. Bonhams sold €15 million of collector cars here in 2025, a record for the sale, and this year its catalogue is led by a 1970 Lamborghini Miura P400 S offered without reserve and estimated at €1.6 million to €2 million. The Marquee is open for viewing every day, until 20:00 on Sunday, so the cars can be seen up close long before the hammer falls.
A €115 Zoute ticket covers every venue, from the Gallery to the 4x4 Village
The all-venue day ticket costs from €115 and includes drinks in the Gallery by EY, where more than 20 brands show their newest cars and Ferrari's 1,200 hp F80 stays on the stand all week. Children under 12 get in free, according to the organisers, and the Gallery is open from 9:00 to 20:00 on Saturday and Sunday. The 4x4 Village on the Event Beach in Heist, new this year, adds live off-road tests and test drives the public can book. Knokke-Heist station is 1.5 km from the event, and a free shuttle loops from the P1 and P2 car parks.
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Zoute has become a car event where a family with no budget and a collector with a seven-figure one can spend the same Saturday on the same promenade. The Car Boulevard and the rallies cost nothing, the Concours costs €30, and the same weekend puts a king's Bugatti, a no-reserve Miura and Ferrari's newest hypercar within a few kilometres of each other. Traffic around the Kustlaan will test anyone's patience, so the train is the smart way in, but the programme is worth the trip.
Bonhams will beat its €15 million Zoute record when the hammer falls on Sunday 11 October, because a no-reserve Miura estimated at up to €2 million is the kind of lot that fills a saleroom for everything around it. If it does, Knokke-Heist will have confirmed that its car week now belongs on the same calendar as Monterey and Villa d'Este, with a railway station 1.5 km from the cars.
