Plan to Visit the 2025 New England Boat Show, January 8-12

I got hooked on angling and boating as a youngster, in part by attending the annual January boat show in New York City. Sometimes there was a pile of snow to slush through from the train station at Columbus Circle to the venue, which was then the New York Coliseum. But it was a different, and completely fascinating, world inside. One attendance, then as a 13-year-old, prompted me later to buy my first boat, an 11-foot styrofoam-hulled sailboat called Sea Snark. I fondly remember the good times my cousin and friends and I had with that boat for several summers.

So I can’t help but be encouraging when it comes to advocating that young and seasoned boaters attend a boat show near them. Some, like the 2025 New England Boat Show, are held in the dead of winter. Others occur in the fall or spring. Some have on-the-water components, though many do not.

You don’t need to be in the market for a new boat to attend a boat show, so look for one near you this winter. I’d also suggest that you visit a show that is out of your regional area to see what’s happening elsewhere in an “all-things-boating” educational sense. Often, the seminars offered at boat shows are good enough reason to attend.

One of the best to attend is the 2025 New England Boat Show, which occurs from January 8th through January 12th at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Billed as New England’s biggest boating event, the show provides a vast array of marine-themed exhibits, boating and fishing seminars, and interactive activities. Here are some of the 2025 New England Boat Show‘s highlights:

• Climb aboard hundreds of boats from yachts and center consoles to pontoons and paddle boats. Compare features and enjoy show specials.

• Learn just about everything you need to know about boats, engines, and boating from experts each day at Fred’s Shed How-To Center.

• Get info, tips, and knowledge on saltwater fishing at daily seminars conducted by local experts.

• With guided assistance, improve your casting skills at the Casting Pond.

• Observe on-water paddlesports demonstrations or take a test ride with gear provided (must be 10 or over).

• View elegant boats from the past at the Classic Boat Collection exhibit.

• Try your hand at docking, turning, stopping, and more at the Boating Simulator.

• Let youngsters enjoy a mini-paddleboat ride and the toy boat building exhibit.

New England Boat Show Dates/Times/Tickets: Jan. 8-10, 12-8 P.M.; Jan 11, 10-8 P.M.; Jan. 12, 10-6. Daily tickets are $20 online; children 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Visit the New England Boat Show 2025 for more info.