Mary AnneMarch is a glorious month for events in France, particularly with Easter weekend at the end of the month. The weather is changing with Spring arriving and the gardens and parks are showing off their new colours. A great month to visit.
To Mar 3, 2024: Nice Carnaval, PACA. The theme for 2024 is the King of Pop Culture which is refreshingly different from other carnivals which take the Paris Olympics as their inspiration. Plenty to do and see in the Queen of the south of France. Taking over the streets and square, the Carnival procession and the Battle of the Flowers have to be seen to be believed. Place Masséna is at the heart of the celebrations as extraordinary floats parade past the stands while street art, bands and performances entertain.
To Mar 3, 2024: The Menton Lemon Festival began in 1934. Over 300 professionals using 145 tonnes of citrus fruits (yes, that’s right) create extraordinary citrus-themed floats and parade around the Promenade du Soleil while dancers and folk groups entertain and throw tons of confetti. The central Biovès Gardens are transformed with temporary sculptures in those bright orange and yellow coloured fruits, some as high as 10 metres. This year the theme is the Olympics.
To Mar 3, 2024: Porte de Versailles International Agricultural Show, the biggest agricultural event in France has been held since 1964. For anyone interested in agriculture it’s a must with over international 1,000 exhibitors from around the world. They show off 3,000 animals, a cornucopia of fruit and vegetables, as well as agricultural items and more. Four areas take in livestock farming and its related industries; gastronomic products from France and elsewhere; cultivation and the plant industries; and agricultural services and trades. It makes sense: France is one of Europe’s biggest agricultural nations.
To Mar 24, 2024: Limoux Carnival in the Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon. For over 700 years it’s been celebrating a group of local millers who, having paid off their taxes to the local monks, roamed through the streets, handing out flour and treats to the locals. And they’ve been doing it ever since. This fabulous costumed event takes place every weekend to the end of March.
Here’s the Programme
To Apr 5, 2024: Banlieues Bleues Festival in Saint Denis, Paris. New jazz musicians from around the world come together in this popular festival. It includes takes place in different venues including Dynamo, the main venue open all year round.
To Apr 7, 2024: Dunkirk Carnival in Nord-Pas de Calais is one of those events when the French appear to go totally bonkers. Go there to appreciate the extraordinary 300-year old party as it sweeps through the town. The carnival celebrates the boats setting off for voyages to the rich fishing grounds off Newfoundland and Iceland – voyages which lasted for months.
Shrove Tuesday is the highlight with musicians dressed as fishermen leading the parades, complete with ‘giants’ and 450 kilos of wrapped, smoked herrings hurled from the balcony of the City Hall. As I wrote, bonkers.
The carnival is mainly at weekends, with some events on a weekday. Check the website.
Events starting in March 2024
Mar 2-3, 2024: The Violet Festival has taken place in Tourrettes-sur-Loup since 1952. Begun in 1880 when the village in the Alpes-Maritimes in southern France became famous for its violet growing farms, the festival celebrates the end of the violet season with serenades, dances, a floral procession and finally a flower battle for everyone.
Mar 2-3, 2024: Sarlat Fest’Oie (Goose Festival) is one of the best known March events. It takes place in the picturesque town of Sarlat-la-Canéda in Périgord, an area famous for its geese. There’s an all-you-can-eat banquet, naturally, and the chance to savour street food like goose soup from one of the stalls. Buy products in the bustling market and follow flocks of geese as they are led through the city.
Mar 9-25, 2024: Les Printemps des Poètes. Poetry festivals, large and small take place all over France, from a reading in a café to a fully fledged festival. And the one in Nice on the Côte d’Azur is one of the best known. This very French festival is the most esoteric of events in France in March 2023. Not for the faint-hearted!
Mar 13-Apr 7, 2024: Monte-Carlo Spring Arts Festival is a classical music festival that runs from Thursdays to Sundays over the month. Founded originally by Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace in 1970, it features some of the great European orchestras and takes place in the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Hôtel Hermitage and One Monte-Carlo.
Mar 14-16, 2024: The Rallye Le Touquet Pas-de-Calais starts the 2023 French Rally Championship. Over 150 drivers wizz through the countryside and along the coast.
Mar 14-17, 2024: Orchid Festival at the Abbey of Vaucelles near Cambrai in the Nord department. Thirty participants fill the vaulted rooms of the 12th century building. It’s a beautiful abbey with stunning gardens and worth a visit at any time of the year.
Mar 16, 2024: La Trace du Fromage on the Aubrac plateau in Aveyron gives you the chance to walk, cross-country ski or snowshoe over the extraordinary Aubrac landscape on the search for cheese, mulled wine, gentian, fouace and aligot. Celebrating Lagouile AOP, it’s organised by the Cooperative Jeune Montagne. Go from from buron to buron – small stone shelters where shepherds live with their herds during the summer and make cheese by hand.
Mar 20-25, 2024: Drawing Week, Paris. Different venues celebrate the art of drawing. Try the Drawing Now Art Fair at the Carreau du Temple (Mar 21-24), and the Salon du Dessin (Mar 20-25) at the Palais Brogninart.
Mar 22-25, 2024: International Cheese and Wine Fair at Coulommiers in the south of France. Exhibitors and craftspeople set up their stalls in the forecourt of the sugar factory offering local product tastings, a livestock exhibition and contests as well as the chance to buy all those tempting goodies.
Mar 22-Sep 22, 2024: Impressionist Destination in Normandy celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Impressionists. Around 150 to 200 events are organised in the main cities celebrating the art: Rouen, Caen, Le Havre, Cherbourg, Giverny, Honfleur, Port-en-Bessin-Huppain, Fécamp and Saint Lô and in other smaller towns. The connection between contemporary art and Impressionism is also a theme in the concerts, major Impressionist exhibitions, installations, dance and more, including the exhibition Whistler, the Butterfly Effect at the Musée des Beaux-Arts (Fine Arts Museum) in Rouen (May 24-Jul 24), and a Gwen John exhibition at the Château-Musée in Dieppe from end June to end September.
Mar 29-Apr 1, 2024: Easter Feria in Arles. This is the first event in the French bullfighting season. There are corridas in the arenas, but there’s much more: bull running (course camarquaise), street events, musical entertainment and abrivados where the bulls are led from the pastures to the arena and back by costumed guardians on horseback. and more. But if you’re not a fan, keep away.
Mar 29-Apr 1, 2024: L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue Antiques Fair is one of the great antiques events of Europe and of all the events in France in April, it’s one of my favourites. It takes place in the pretty south of France town of L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, one of the antique capitals of France. It’s the place for a bargain or a masterpiece depending on your budget.
Mar 30, 2024: Easter Sunday. Despite being such a catholic country, France only observes Easter Sunday and Monday as public holidays, not Good Friday. But with healthy commercial and gourmet interests at heart, the pâtisseries and shops fill with Easter bunnies and all kinds of goodies weeks before and after Easter.
See how the French celebrate Easter
Visit one of the great Sacred Sites of France
Conques in the Lot Valley is one of the abbeys you should see
Mar 30-Apr 1: The International Kite and Wind Festival takes place in the seaside resort of Châtelaillon-sur-Plage in Charentes-Maritimes. It’s a spectacular sight as over 800 kites fill the sky. To add to the excitement there are kite-surfing demonstrations, kite creation workshops for children and more.
Events in France
Events in France in January 2024
Events in France in February 2024
I am updating the events in France in 2024 but have left 2023 as many of France’s major events occur each year, usually at the same time of the month.
Events in France in April 2023
Events in France in May 2023
Events in France in June 2023
Events in France in July 2023
Events in France in August 2023
Events in France in September 2023
Events in France in October 2023
Events in France in November 2023
Events in France in December 2023
More about great Food Festivals in France
Public holidays in France
Here’s a quick guide to France, its regions and departments to help you find where the events are taking place.
Regions of France
French Departments