The Festival is an itinerant cultural event, where over a period of 8-10 days each summer, a fleet of boats sail from the northern end to the southern end of Peipus lake, stopping every day in a different harbour. Participants are invited to experience local culture, heritage and gastronomy in a variety of creative ways.

The Festival was part of a larger marketing and development campaign to boost tourism, development, and awareness of the diverse coastal culture of Peipsimaa (Peipus land), an area which was economically lagging behind the rest of the country. The Festival promoted boating and sailing activities while also introducing local boating culture and heritage preservation. Boat owners and enthusiasts were encouraged to sail with the festival fleet and become part of the event itself. Different workshops (gastronomy, water rescue actions, fishing, model ship building) and activities were organised in each harbour, as well as free concerts. The festival also partnered with the Fisheries Information Centre on the delivery of several fisheries’ education workshops.

The project has been well received by both the local communities and the visitors, and the number of participating water vessels has increased considerably since its first year in 2017. Following a successful pilot phase of the initiative, a cooperation project was set up between 4 Local Action Groups (LAG) and 1 Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG) in order to upscale the event by helping to cover the marketing, communication and organisational costs and thus building synergies between funds available through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).

The project was supported by a large number of actors, such as the Tartu Rural Development Association, the Jõgevamaa Cooperation chamber, Borderlands LEADER, PeipsiAlutaguse Chamber of Cooperation and the Peipus Fisheries Area Development Chamber. While the total budget of the project was €38,000, the EU contribution was of €25,200.