Events calendar Picardie

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!

For the past thirty years, on certain evenings in July, the castle ruins have come alive. Fantastic and improbable beings, accompanied by beautiful ladies and gentlemen, emerge from the void to the delight of spectators. Around 150 dedicated volunteers bring Coucy's glorious past to life for the duration of the show. All the audience has to do is sit back and let themselves be swept along in the waltz of an enchanted and magical night.

Would you like to spend a weekend in the Middle Ages? The town of Laon invites you to take a delightful trip back in time to the heart of the medieval city. The setting of the upper town is obviously ideal for this journey back in time. The numerous free events are sure to keep the public on their toes. Children love to try their hand at archery, watch the knights or play traditional Picardy games. The street shows and medieval market are a big hit with everyone. A recommended family outing.

A real popular festival at Cayeux-sur-Mer in the bay of the Somme. Adorned with a multitude of gladioli (nearly 9,000!) and multicoloured dahlias, the town becomes an even more lively place for a day. On the programme: parade of floats decorated with flowers by the associations, competition for the most beautiful float, musical entertainment in the afternoon at the city's kiosk and open-air disco in the evening on Boulevard du Général Sizaire, with a splendid fireworks display as a final bouquet. Every year, the public is present in large numbers in the streets of the city.

A hike that mixes both body and mind. In the heart of nature (in Effry for the 2016 edition), the games of address and reflection are multiplying in a good atmosphere. The map of the Legend of the Thiérache in hand, discover beautiful landscapes and take the time to observe the fauna and flora. On the floor of the cows or on water in canoe, the day will be completed. A puzzle to solve, a physical effort, the pleasure of being with friends or family because it is a team race, many lots to win, this is a beautiful idea of exit to renew every year.

Organised in honour of the sea and sailors, the Fête de la Mer at Le Crotoy is an event not to be missed. Magnificent in traditional costumes, the sailors parade with the musicians of the local harmony and the giants of Berck, Flip and Zabeth. Follow them, hoping that there are enough free places on the boats to participate in the blessing of the sea. The Marseillaise resounds during the stopover near the monument dedicated to the sailors who disappeared in the changing waters of the English Channel. A market of regional products and various festivities also take place during this weekend, such as jousting in the hunting basin and outings at sea.

This is the not-to-be-missed event for all lovers of the ^9th art! On the initiative of the association On a marché sur la bulle (Tintin fans rejoice!), some one hundred authors meet at the Halle Freyssinet for workshops, screenings of live drawings, signings, events and conferences. For the ^25th edition, Cyril Pedrosa signed the poster. Exhibitions on Amiens Cathedral, the Musée de Picardie and Shinichi Ishizuka's Blue Giant manga marked the last edition of the festival.

This is a very special race, at once a leap into the past on a World War I site, an obstacle course and a slightly crazy challenge on Great War sites such as the Montigny quarries! This race includes more than fifty obstacles spread over 11 kilometres. You will have to crawl, slide, climb, cross a river, carry, face mud and clay... For those accompanying you or for the less courageous, historical re-enactments, hikes and guided tours are organised.