Events calendar France

Four days of music and festivities! Le Cabaret Vert attracted 127,000 festival-goers to its 2023 edition, and never ceases to thrill the crowds. 18 years of fun and sharing. Lomepal, Nekfeu, Niska, Pomme, Dionysos, the festival is open to all kinds of music and has a strong ecological conscience. But Cabaret Vert isn't just a music festival, it's also a comics festival, bringing some forty talented artists to the fore each year, as well as street shows and screenings.

Brest summers have been festive at the port for twenty years now. This event organised by the municipality is free and open to all. The programme, created by Jacques Guérin and his Quai Ouest Musiques Company, satisfy all tastes. The Thursday port idea was initiated in 1989 with the aim of uniting the Brest people each Thursday evening during summer. Do not miss this gathering for a great popular and friendly musical festival on the banks of the port. Many quality concerts, shows are programmed for free. It becomes most interesting when the port becomes over-crowded.

In Blois, in October, the Rendez-vous de l'Histoire brings together 1 000 speakers from all walks of life each year; it is a unique place for meetings, exchanges and debates. Historians, academics, writers, filmmakers, philosophers, politicians, journalists can find themselves in a long weekend for more than 400 meetings, debates, conferences, historical cafés, workshops, etc., in about fifteen places in the city. On this occasion, the Grain hall (in the heart of Blois) becomes the largest living room in the book book in France. Nearly 150 publishers and 300 authors come to meet the lovers of history. The cinema cycle allows you to see or review films at the cinema Les Lobis, through a selection of about fifty documentaries and fiction, subject to heritage as well as recent production, film archives like television. Finally, Les Rendez-vous de l'Histoire is a unique opportunity to discover the history otherwise, beside it in unusual places (historical cafés), through gastronomic discoveries (historical dinners), shows, exhibitions of photographs, historical comic strips.

It's "the biggest theatre in the world"! Thanks to the diversity of its cultural offerings, the Off, an alternative festival created in 1963 by André Benedetto, is one of the largest festivals of independent companies in the world. It transforms the city - suspended signs, flyers with catchy words, acrobats competing with imagination to bait the barge. Companies come and go from far and wide. Everything is conducive to theatrical gesticulations: improbable places arranged (garage, corridors, barge ... but also disused school and gymnasium).

Since 1991, every year since 1991, the Citadel has been abuzz with excitement. Together with the band La Citadelle, at carnival time, the festival La Citadelle en Bordées is the second highlight of the year for this sailors' district. In Dunkirk, the Citadel is surrounded by basins, it can only be accessed by bridges, so it is a sort of small "island" with a soul and is still very much dedicated to the economy of the port and the sea. This festival therefore logically resounds with sailors' songs, but also with folk, Celtic groups, blues, and French songs that are sometimes offbeat and humorous. At Les Bordées, you'll find people flitting from stage to stage (there are 10 of them!) and from café to café. And when it comes to bars and restaurants, there's plenty to choose from! In addition to these establishments that set up large tables outside, there is always the possibility of eating "a French fry", along the heritage ships of the Port Museum, strolling in the middle of an often compact crowd, especially at the Quai de la Citadelle, and being guided by the sound of the bands. The people of Dunkirk love this event and it's easy to see why. About twenty groups can be seen free of charge. Atmosphere until the end of the night!

The Saint Etienne Design Biennial is bringing the city to international attention. The 2022 edition is interested in forks in the road, through six exhibitions taking the side roads to "choose the essential", the subtitle for this year. Don't forget to browse through the Biennial Off through a hundred or so events. All of which will provide food for thought for Saint-Etienne's double labeling by UNESCO as a "Creative Design City" and "Inclusive City".

The Thursday evenings of summer in Niort are spent in music, with friends or family, in the gardens of the Moulin du Roc, discovering the musicians in the making. Neither really a festival nor completely a concert, and a little bit all at the same time, this event is organized by the town hall, offers free to anyone who wants, to attend the musical performances of emerging groups. Every Thursday, thousands of people flock to the banks of the Sèvre niortaise to listen to two groups grouped by theme. Whatever your musical inclinations, keep an open mind and let yourself be carried away by the musical discovery. Taste one or more quality concerts in a green setting under the inevitably clement summer skies, an invitation that can't be refused!

In 2015, this great event celebrated its 55 ^th edition! Always linked to La Fontaine Fables, seven poles of activity ring in the city. Bands wave the pavement and Street Arts impress the growing audience. A handicraft and gourmet market can take a few strengths. Concerts, fireworks and outdoor disco, prolong the pleasure late in the night. Great congratulations to the 75 volunteers who make this event a great success every year!

The festival of Les Rugissantes is a highlight of the street arts festival Les Beaux Bagages. During three days, the festival proposes a great diversity of artistic creations with more than 35 performances orchestrated by 18 companies and with the return of the Standing Man. It is the famous giant wicker puppet built by the Creusotins in a participative and poetic approach. The festival will keep its promises, as already for more than ten years, with its convivial atmosphere in the whole city and for all the publics.

Every day, at nightfall, the city lights up: this is the magic of Chartres en Lumières. Since 2003, Xavier de Richemont has been giving historic sites a new face by dressing them in lights and shimmering colours. Small blue lights, placed on the ground like Little Thumb's pebbles, trace a circuit through the city centre and the lower town (map available at the tourist office): all along this path, you can contemplate the 23 illuminated sites, sometimes animated, sometimes accompanied by music, and always surprising.

The Made in France show is a testimony to the multiple definitions and cultural diversity that make the richness of made in France today. Each year, it highlights all the French fashion territories and their know-how. The great names of luxury, designers, young designers, costume makers, fashion houses, fashion, accessories, lingerie, sportswear, furniture and cosmetics brands reveal all their secrets. For all practical information, note that the website is very well designed.

Over the years, Alsace's Christmas markets have proven to be truly magical. For proof of this, a visit to Colmar is a must. For when the festive season arrives, the city of Bartholdi is decked out in sublime decorations and other enchanting illuminations! Since 2018, six markets have been opening their adorable chalets in the following locations: Place des Dominicains, Place Jeanne d'Arc, Petite Venise, Place de l'Ancienne Douane, inside the Koïfhus, and last but not least, in Place de la Cathédrale, dedicated to Alsatian gastronomy. As you stroll along, you'll be able to enjoy a delicious mulled wine while soaking up the festive atmosphere. Various fun and picturesque events are organized along the way. Not to be missed!

Animal Expo is an event dedicated to the world of pets that brings together over 10,000 animals each year in October. It is the largest exhibition dedicated to pets. 2018 was the the occasion of the 26^th edition. On the program, many activities, competitions and conferences, and a compendium of beauty and elegance presented by professionals of the world of domestic animal (250 dogs, 700 cats, 400 rodents and hundreds of fish, reptiles and birds). This show is a pleasure for children and adults. Be careful, your own pet is not allowed in the fair.

Bakers from Strasbourg and the region, winegrowers from the Couronne d'Or, farm producers of foie gras from Alsace and La Tribu des Gourmets du Vin d'Alsace meet at this market. They will introduce you to their regional gourmet products based on the Christmas theme: Winachtsbredele (Christmas petits fours), Alsatian wines, mulled wine with Alsace white wine and Alsatian foie gras. Gift ideas tastings are on the agenda. Animations punctuate this market for two months. An annex to the Christmas market that is really worth a visit.