It is the Armada's most offbeat fixture — and one of its most popular. La Grande Pagaille (The Great Chaos) is a race of unidentified floating objects (UFOs) on the Seine: homemade craft, often improbable, always joyful, most of which end up in the water to the laughter of tens of thousands of spectators.
Confirmed for 2027
La Grande Pagaille is among the confirmed fixtures of the 2027 edition (17–27 June), alongside the crew parade, the sailors' jog and the Grande Parade. The Armada is also this: the seriousness of tall ships meets the purest absurdity.