November in France beckons with so many great events. The month starts with Halloween and goes on to please with chocolate in Paris, photographic exhibitions, food and wine. Of all the events in France in November, the most poignant and faithfully observed is Armistice Day. It commemorates the peace treaty that ended World War I at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. It’s commemorated all over the country.

If you’re in France on November 1st, grab your last chance to enjoy some popular events.

Events in France ending in November

To Nov 1, 2026: Giverny, Claude Monet’s house and garden closes at the end of Nov 1 for the season. It will reopen on April 1, 2027.

To Nov 1, 2026:  Paris Chocolate Fair at Porte de Versailles is a must for chocoholics. 280 exhibitors from all over the world: chocolatiers, pastry chefs and other professionals take part. There’s a pastry show with top chefs demonstrating their skills, the cacao show with music and performances from cocoa-producing countries, talks and tasting, workshops for adults and kids and the startling fashion show which challenges your ideas about chocolate.

To Nov 1, 2026: The prestigious Paris Salon d’Automne art show began in 1903 with the likes of Guimard, Cezanne, Bonnard, Roualt, and Matisse. The idea was to shock the old and introduce the new. It continues today with works by 890 artists including 161 new participants from 43 countries. It takes place in the Petit Palais.

The Salon d’Automne is an association of artists and is non-profit-making. It was founded in 1903, and recognized for its public utility since 1920 when it confirmed the aim of encouraging and developing fine arts particularly through exhibitions both in France and abroad.

To Nov 1, 2026: International Garden Festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire château in the Loire Valley is a fabulous, huge Festival, the Chelsea Flower Show of France. The Château and grounds are lovely and the festival of a series of gardens from international designers always delivers some surprises. This year’s theme plays tribute to the cinema and gardens. The Garden Festival opens late April, 2027.

To Nov 1, 2026: Halloween might not be celebrated in France as it is in the UK or USA. But it remains a special time, with France taking All Saints’ Day (Toussaints) on November 1 very seriously.

Here’s more about how the French celebrate Halloween in France.

Please note: The Toussaints (All Saints) school holiday runs from Saturday Oct 17 to Monday Nov 2, 2026. That means that attractions all over France will be busy during that time.

To Nov 2, 2026: Disneyland Paris celebrates its Halloween Festival with Disney villains roaming the streets. On October 31 Disney’s Halloween Party takes over the park from 8pm to 2am. Book early and expect lots of families.

To Nov 8, 2026: Halloween at Parc Astérix  means activities and characters get out of control! Haunted houses, evil creatures and fantastic monsters terrorize (or amuse) young Gauls. Peur sur le Parc (Fear in the Park) returns with attractions and shows to spook kids and adults.

To Nov 8, 2026: Rolex Paris Masters tennis tournament is the final ATP World Masters event. Held in the Accor Arena on a hard surface, 48 players will compete. Currently Novak Djokovic holds the record with 6 wins and he remains the only player to defend the title (2013–2015). The 2025 tournament was won by Jannik Sinner.

To Dec 6, 2026:  The Herring and Coquilles Saint-Jacques Festivals in Normandy are superb and the chance to celebrate these famous fishes, so necessary to Normandy. Join the 100,000 odd enthusiasts for tastings, discussing the merits of, and enjoying every kind of cured herring and Coquille Saint-Jacques.

Here are the herring and scallop festivals in north France in 2026.

If you’re there, check out the Normandy D-Day Landing beaches.

To Dec, 2026: Paris Autumn Festival is a huge, prestigious arts events, taking in every discipline and taking place in different venues throughout Paris. Around 50 events cover the new and the avant-garde. It was created in 1972 by Michel Guy under the impetus of Georges Pompidou who wanted Paris to become a cultural capital. He succeeded; today around 150,000 people attend one of the events. The 2026 dates are to be confirmed.

To Dec 13, 2026: Biennale of Contemporary Art, Lyon. Every two years the Lyon Contemporary Art Biennal alternates with the Dance Biennal. This is a huge and important contemporary art festival, with work from around the world.

To Jan, 2026: Chartres en lumières sees this wonderful city illuminated for its festival of light. It’s nightly so there’s no excuse to miss it. It runs from dusk to 1am.

Events starting in France in November 2026

Nov 6-8, 2026: Salon Gourmand in Rouen, Normandy, is another of those glorious food festivals. Over 250 exhibitors show off their wares: wine, beer, sweet things, chocolate, cheese and more. There are chef demonstrations, tastings and a whole lot more.

Nov 11, 2026: Armistice Day is a public holiday in France. Every village, town and city has parades to honour the L’armistice de la Première Guerre Mondiale commemorating the end of World War 1. At exactly 11am on the 11^th day of the 11^th month, Armistice Day, one-minute’s silence is held and France stops as people reflect on the past. The Armistice was signed at the Armistice Museum in the forest of Compiègne in Picardy.

Nov 12-15, 2026: Paris Photo in part of the Grand Palais has over 140 galleries from 33 countries showing exceptional works. The largest international photo fair, there are talks and awards for photo books along with interviews and discussions with artists, gallery owners, collectors and the enthusiastic public. Even the catalogue is a work of art. Other galleries and museums in Paris highlight their photographic collections.

Nov 15, 2026: The Beaune Wine Auction is the most famous wine auction in the world. Taking place over a weekend, it’s not just the wine auction, conducted by Christie’s, that is the attraction. All the major vineyards open their cellars for tastings, and there’s plenty to see and do. You must book tickets in advance.

Nov 19-23, 2026 At midnight on November 19, the famous Nouveau Beaujolais is released. The Nouveau Beaujolais est arrivé sign appears in restaurants all over the world and though the wine is not the greatest (far too young), it’s a fun evening. The best place to celebrate is Lyon, capital of the Beaujolais region, in the Place des Terreaux. Organised by young wine producers, it’s a festival with fireworks, tastings, street theatre and more. All the local bouchons (restaurants in Lyon) offer special menus.  The celebrations run over 5 days throughout the country from Nov 19 to Dec 23. It’s one of the major global celebrations of French events in November.
If you’re not in France, you can officially buy the wine wherever you are at 12.01am on the day of release.

Nov 19-22, 2026: The International Festival of Animal and Nature Photography in Montier-en-Der, Haute-Marne, Grand Est, takes over around fifteen sites with international exhibitions. Over 2,000 photos are on major naturalist and environmental themes, with different themes each year. Conferences and screenings, and well-known speakers from the worlds of science, the media and culture.

Nov 20, 2026-Jan 3, 2027: Nancy in east France begins its Christmas celebrations of Saint Nicholas with the lighting up of the Christmas tree on Place Stanislas and the grand market on Place Charles III. It’s a spectacular festival with a special weekend December 7 & 8. Over 70 exhibitors attend the event in brightly lit chalets, offering the public original gift ideas, art and craft objects and local specialities.

Nov 21-Dec 6, 2026: Cannes Dance Festival was founded in 1984. Internationally famous, it is particularly strong on contemporary dance, introducing new choreographers as well as supporting well-known dance companies.

Nov 27-Dec 6, 2026: La Festival de Sainte-Barbe in Lens-Liévin, Pas de Calais. The main towns are holding celebrations of the saint who was martyred for her Christian faith on December 4, c. 2,000AD. One of 14 Holy Helpers, she’s invoked in thunderstorms so has become the patron saint of miners, armourers, artillerymen, military engineers and others who work with explosives. Look out for events in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, Aix-Noulette, Angres, Billy-Montigny, Bouvigny-Boyeffles, Bully-les-Mines, Harnes, Lens, Liévin, Loison-sous-Lens, Noyelles-Godault, Noyelles-sous-Lens, Pont-à-Vendin, Sains-en-Gohelle, Sallaumines, Vendin-le-Vieil, Vimy, Wingles.

Late November–January 2027: Christmas Markets take place all over France. Strasbourg is particularly important in east France; in north France make for Arras. It’s a good way to celebrate events in November in France just in time for Christmas.

Here are the Christmas Markets in North France in 2025
Here are the Christmas Markets in the rest of France in 2025

Events in France in 2026

If you know of other events you think I should include, please do let me know!

Events in France in January 2026
Events in France in February 2026
Events in France in March 2026
Events in France in April 2026
Events in France in May 2026
Events in France in June 2026
Events in France in July 2026
Events in France in August 2026
Events in France in September 2026
Events in France in October 2026
Events in France in December 2026

Major events and openings in France in 2026

Geography of France

To help you find those events, here are a couple of articles on the geography of France

Regions of France
Departments of France

AND…

French Public Holidays

More about great Food Festivals in France

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The Herring Festivals of North France take the otherwise rather humble fish and celebrate it in great style. I love herrings and claim to know a little about them (my Finnish relatives are responsible for that). But even I have to admit that nowhere in Finland rivals North France in its herring adulation and public festivities. 

The Poisson Roi

The King Fish (also called the ‘silver of the sea’) is a noble beast, a staple food for our ancestors and a major factor in the prosperity of Yarmouth in the UK, and towns and cities along the North France coast. 

I did a little research and was astonished. Do you know about the Hatchet, the Big eyed long fin, the Sanaga pygmy, the fierce sounding Wolf, and dozens of other herring varieties?

They are fascinating, but let’s not bother with those living in seas far away; what we are dealing with here is the abundant, glorious, Atlantic herring which can be eaten raw, pickled, fermented, barbecued and smoked (kippers).  

Herrings have been a staple diet since Roman times and probably way before that. Above all, herrings are very good for you and are in no danger of being overfished.

Normandy Herring Festivals 2026

Normandy is famous for its herring festivals. They take place in November each year. In fishing towns from Le Tréport, along the Alabaster coast ports of Dieppe, St-Valery-en-Caux, Fécamp and inland Lieurey, herring festivals dominate November’s food festivals. 

Tons of herrings are served up, many cooked on huge open barbecue style fires, and washed down with good wine. There’s entertainment and the locals dress up in traditional costume. It’s a fabulous day (or weekend); even non devotees are converted.

Check out the Normandy Website on Herring Festivals

Le Tréport Herring Festival: Nov 7-8, 2026
The historic fishing port is dominated by the highest chalk cliffs in Europe (106m/348 ft.) These dramatic cliffs are lit up every evening from  June to September and on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from October to May, making a dramatic backdrop to the town. Take the funicular railway up to the top, a delightful neighbourhood of old streets and houses, originally inhabited by the Cordiers (line fishermen). Le Tréport was once one of the major herring centres of Europe.

There’s plenty to enjoy at Le Tréport which officially heralds the start of the herring festival season. Sample grilled, marinated, smoked and barbecued herring with chips, buy at the fish markets and fishermen stalls, or the artisan stalls and be entertained with music as you go.

Dieppe Herring and Scallop Festival: Nov 7-8, 2026
Over 100,000 people descend on this popular port for the best known festival in Normandy, and probably the whole of France, which includes the classier scallop. During the festival the quays are buzzing and the smell of cooking herrings fills the air.

At any time of the year, stroll through Le Pollet, the former fisherman’s quarter with its old houses and small streets. Dieppe’s Saturday morning market is not to be missed; it was voted (a few years ago but hey ho that hasn’t changed), as France’s best.

Lieurey Herring Festival: Nov 11, 2026
Lieurey may be inland but 10,000 visitors come here every year to celebrate a tradition that goes back to the 15th century. Merchants who were delivering herrings to soldiers stopped in Lieurey during a snowstorm and sold their herrings to the villagers instead. And it’s a charming, little known town to visit as well.

Saint-Valery-en-Caux Herring Festival: Nov 21-22, 2026
The town of St-Valery-en-Caux shelters under the cliffs, making it the perfect safe fishing port and seaside resort. Walk along the promenade that stretches out beside the sea for a healthy dose of ozone.

The herring festival delivers everything you expect: lots of grilled herrings, lots to drink and take in and sea shanties to listen to.

Fécamp Herring and Scallop Festival: Nov 28-29, 2026
The fishing tradition dates back to 1030 and the fair to 50 years later. In 1088, Duke Robert II, eldest son of William the conqueror, gave the Abbey of Abbey of Fécamp the right to establish an annual fair ‘that will last as long as herring fishing exists’. The festival sees around 40,000 visitors who come to eat, see filleting demonstrations, the election of the Herring Queen and entertainment running from sea shanties to family fun on the Sadi Carnot, Jean Recher, and Grand Quai quays.

If you’re here for the festival, don’t miss a visit to Les Pêcheries Musée which takes you back to the glory days of the fishing industry when the fishing boats set out for the Iceland and Newfoundland banks to fish for cod, fishing trips that lasted for months and were sometimes fatal. If it’s cold, make a quick trip to Palais Bénédictine, the main distillery for the famous liqueur.

While we’re on the subject of fishy carnivals…

Pas de Calais

Boulogne-sur-Mer Herring Festival: Nov 21-22, 2026
Boulogne is France’s foremost fishing port. 320,000 tonnes of seafood are processed each year, and stored in some of the largest refrigeration facilities in Europe. So it’s not surprising that the Boulogne Herring Festival is such a big event. It takes place around the Napoleon basin, in the heart of Boulogne’s harbour. Try the noble fish – smoked, grilled, marinated and in soup. Listen to sea shanties from the local group, Vareuses Porteloises, and look at traditional floats and stands. And enjoy the culinary demonstrations.

Dunkirk Carnival: Jan-Apr 2027
The Dunkirk Carnival is a totally bonkers event, celebrating 300 years of those departures to the New World. Plan to be there on Shrove Tuesday. Why? Well to make sure you’re there to receive herrings thrown from the Town Hall balcony. Don’t worry; the smoked herrings are wrapped. But do dress up if you can so you fit in perfectly with the locals. It takes place over weekends in January to March each year.

More Information

How to get to Normandy from the UK
Normandy Travel Guide

Events in France in November

France and Food

The Food of France – An intriguing story
Discover the Regional Food of France
Surprisingly, the artist Toulouse-Lautrec was a great cook. He followed the seasons and local produce. More about this unexpected gourmet and his recipe book, the Art of Cuisine.

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Caen attracts two kinds of visitors: those who are there specifically for the D-Day Landing Beaches and all things World War II…and those who land here after the Channel crossing…and leave immediately to drive furiously to whatever destination they’re making for. Here’s a guide to Caen to persuade you to make this a short break.

Having written extensively on D-Day both here (see my list/links at the end bottom of the article) and been the co-author of the Bradt D-Day Landing Guide, I well understand the former.

But those who just see Caen as a jumping off port are missing out on this delightful, lively city where visitors who defy the usual practice and make it a destination stop are well rewarded.

A Little History of Caen

William and Mathilda

2027 is an important year for Normandy – and Europe. It sees the international celebration of William the Conqueror and Caen is the perfect place to start their colourful story.

Two of the main buildings in Caen are associated with William the Conqueror (c. 1028-1087) and Mathilda of Flanders (c. 1031-1083), so please excuse this very short history (or scroll past).

William was known as William the Bastard, being the illegitimate son of unmarried Duke Robert I of Normandy and his mistress Herleva. William’s chosen wife was the aristocratic Mathilda – granddaughter of King Robert II of France. Her reply to his declaration was pretty curt – she would not marry a bastard. The story then goes into Mills and Boon territory. William either rode to Bruges, forced himself into her bedroom and beat her. Or he dragged her from her horse and presumably declared his undying resolve in the mud.

Apparently fascinated by such a manly response, Mathilda consented. Historians, naturally, dispute this version, but let’s not get in the way of a good story.

William and Mathilda were married  in 1051-2 (probably in Rouen Cathedral), despite Pope Leo IX banning the union on the grounds of consanguinity – the couple were third cousins once removed. Four or five children later, Pope Nicholas II granted a dispensation after the couple agreed to found two churches as penance, the Abbaye aux Hommes and the Abbaye aux Dames.

Top Sights in Caen

Château de Caen

Begun by William the Conqueror in 1060 and fortified by his son Henry Beauclerk in 1123, it retains enough of the old buildings to show its size and importance. A walk over the moat into the citadel shows you how difficult the castle would be to attack. The greatest damage was done when Caen was bombed in 1944. Since then restoration work has brought the castle back to life.

A walk up to the ramparts reveals the city below, the church of St-Pierre and in the distance the Abbaye aux Hommes.

I’d advise you to start, if possible, with a visit to the Exchequer, a handsome stone building from the late 11^th century. Inside it’s empty but wait for the immersive show. The doors close behind you; the lights dim to blackness and the great salon is filled with the sounds and sights of A Journey through the 1000-year history of Caen based on the 2025 commemorative year.  It brings to life the history of the ancient city, taking you back into the lives of long distant ancestors, through the industrial era, on to World War II and beyond.

There’s plenty to see in the extensive grounds: the Musée de Normandie takes you at a gallop through the story of the region; the Fine Arts Museum takes you on a whistle stop tour of art through the ages and you can visit the sinister tower of Queen Mathilda.

If you can allow at least half a day.

Abbaye aux Hommes

The magnificent building, with glorious flowering gardens in front, is impressive. To one side stands the Church of Saint-Etienne, one of Normandy’s greatest Romanesque buildings. Don’t miss this out; it’s imposing and atmospheric. The west front is a wonderful mix of Romanesque; with three tiers in different styles flanked by two ornate towers.

The vast interior is plain, with an 18^th-century organ standing proud at the west end. At the east end you’ll find the tomb of William the Conqueror, though after the church was sacked by the Hugenots in the 16^th century, his remains were scattered. All that remains of him is a femur, which is buried beneath the stone.

The main building in the complex, designed in the 18^th century, is a wonderful example of the neo-classical style. Today it’s the town hall, but it also has a good exhibition space and cloisters which in their feeling of serenity and privacy take you away from the stresses of everyday life. Don’t miss the Chapter Hall where the monks originally gathered daily to listen to one (just one) of the 73 chapters of the life of St Benedict. Today it’s the wedding room of the city hall.

Abbaye aux Dames

Founded in 1062 by Queen Matilda and consecrated in June 1066, it stands about 1 mile away from the Abbaye aux Hommes. Step inside the Eglise de la Trinité, mostly built in the 11^th century in Romanesque style. Queen Matilda is buried here which I find rather sad; William and Matilda were a devoted couple. The building is a smaller version of the Abbaye aux Hommes; the grand façade looking more welcoming, the cloister smaller and more intimate. It was occupied by Benedictine nuns until the French Revolution then followed the usual path of such buildings. It first became a barracks, then housed beggars and the homeless, became a hospital in 1823, then a hospice in 1908 and today houses the Regional Normandy Council.

Take a guided tour to see the whole building, including the crypt. It’s surrounded by a large park with lovely views over Caen.

Walk the City

Caen is an easy city to walk around and the tourist office (in the Hotel d’Esceville), conveniently located south of the castle, is a good place to start from.

Walk down rue St Pierre, now mainly a shopping street with bland modern buildings…except for two half-timbered buildings at 52 and 54, stand out, rather incongruously.

If you’re feeling energetic and have time, take a left down rue Paul-Doumer to the Place de la Republique, laid out as a public garden. Then walk past the 17^th-Century Notre Dame de la Gloriette to Place Malherbe and into Place St Sauveur.

Stop for a coffee in Place Saint Sauveur and sit and look at the 18^th-century houses that march down the sides. Or shop at the market on Friday mornings for local Normandy cheeses, breads, meats and more. It’s all presided over by a statue of Louis XIV depicted as a Roman emperor rather than the Sun King. When I was there he was encased in a wooden box, decorated with some dubious Bacchanalian figures. You could see the regal figure but you could also see the back wooden wall as well. Hopefully it was temporary and he has now been restored to his real glory.

Then you are at the Abbaye aux Hommes.

Jardin des Plantes et Jardin Botanique

The collection was started in 1689 from the private garden of Jean-Baptiste Callard de la Ducquerle. Today there’s an impressive main building and acres of plant-filled gardens. You can grab something to eat here. While it’s popular with locals for its advice, lessons and information on plants generally, it’s also a delightful place for visitors o wander through. Check opening times and ticket prices here.

Where to Stay in Caen

We stayed at The People Caen, which is an upmarket hostel. Being of a slightly greater age than your normal hostel person, we were a little nervous. But it’s a fabulous place for people of any age and filled with families with the odd grandparent in tow.

Bedrooms are comfortable, light and airy though not large; bathrooms are good. There’s a rooftop bar with great views, good pizzas to order in the evening and the odd market inside selling all sorts of colourful, sometimes over-the-top kind of fashion that only suits somebody under 21.

Added to this, there’s a garage next door (though beware of using foreign credit cards; we spent a couple of hours with the very helpful receptionist trying to pay before succeeding). Once your car is safely stowed away, tram T2 starts its route here at Presqu’Île. There’s also a free shuttle bus taking you around Caen. The one from here goes through the centre of town ending up at the Palais des Sports.

There are plenty of hotels in Caen, from budget accommodation to luxury.

Where to Eat in Caen

Vaugueux is the district to make for. It’s an area of small streets just east of the Chateau with a whole pedestrianised street of excellent restaurants and bars. We walked there from the hostel, about a 20 minute pleasant stroll. Our destination? Horace.

Horace is a delightful restaurant located in one of the old houses that fill the district. We ate on the outside terrace, a people-watching magnet. The menu is traditional using local ingredients. An excellent €24 and €28 menu takes in crispy camembert with apple and Normandy sausage, mains such as confit of duck, salmon and pasta for vegetarians. Desserts might included warm chocolate cake with passion-fruit sorbet and almond cake with lemon and vervain. The €42 menu includes the likes of oysters, sea bream ceviche and duck foie gras for starters, scallops, sirloin steak and more.

Horace
15 rue du Vaugueux 
14000 Caen
Tel: +33 (0) 2 31 93 50 7
Open Thursday to Monday 12noon-1.30pm & 7-9.30pm

Le Carlotta
Located on the Bassin Saint Pierre quay, Le Carlotta is a delightful Art Deco brasserie, complete with all the glorious over-the-top decorated glass, mirrors and plush red seating you expect to see in a traditional brasserie. Take advantage of the seaside location and order seafood – from oysters to a groaning fruits de mer plateau (€49 or €70). Those after turf rather than surf might go for duck confit parmentier (with a potato topping), or a generous steak. It’s not the cheapest restaurant in Caen but it’s gracious, well positioned and serves excellent meals.

Le Carlotta
16 quai Vendeuvre
14000 Caen
Tel: +33 (0)2 31 86 68 99
Open Monday to Friday noon-2.30pm & 7-11pm

How to Get to Caen

By Sea

Like most Brits we went on Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth, one of the best ferry companies. The Guillaume de Normandie, the second of their Hybrid-LNG ships, takes ferry crossings up another level. If you go overnight take a comfortable cabin with a good bathroom. And eat if you can, in the Bella Riva restaurant rather than the casual café to keep the cruise feeling. There are allergy free and pet friendly cabins as well. Public spaces are roomy and it’s remarkably quiet compared to the diesel engine ferries.  

Top Tip:
We travelled by day, landing at Caen around 10pm. We got through fairly fast (if you can take the right-hand lane exiting the ferry which gives you two control points. But with the new 2026 restrictions it might take longer to get out of the French port. With our late arrival we booked at the Hotel du Phare. It’s a basic 2-star hotel, with a charming staff. We arrived too late to have a drink in the bar, but the manager brought us glasses and biscuits as we opened the bottle of Calvados we had bought on board. Rooms are fine for a quick overnight stay; there’s a good breakfast and you can park right outside the hotel. If you take a front view room you can see the port and the ferry, a 2-minute drive away.

Hotel du Phare
10 Place du Général de Gaulle
Ouistreham 14150
Tel: +33 (0)2 31 97 13 13
Normandy Tourism Website information on Le Phare
Rooms from  €75 a night

Caen and World War II

Caen was the great objective of the D-Day Landings in June 1944. But it took far longer for the Allies to take than originally planned. On June 7, on their way from the Normandy landing beaches, the British and Canadian Divisions ran into the formidable German 12^th SS Panzer Division, the infamous Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth). Fighting in the villages all around Caen took an extremely heavy toll and there are memorials in all these areas. You’ll find Commonwealth War Graves Commissions graveyards, places kept beautifully where the ages of those killed make you weep. There are memorials like the one dedicated to the Typhoon pilots, a dramatic black marble monument shaped as two arrows meeting, commemorating the 151 Typhoon pilots killed in Normandy between May and August 1944. And the emotive Abbaye d’Ardenne, where the Canadian Massacre memorial in a small peaceful garden is witness to the 15 Canadian prisoners of war murdered on June 7.

If you want to see these, and a whole lot more, then (excuse the blatant advert), please buy a copy of the book I wrote with Alastair McKenzie, D-Day Landings, A Travel Guide to Normandy’s Beaches and Battlegrounds. It‘s published by Bradt Travel Guides and you can get it in bookshops or through Bradt Travel Guides website, or Amazon.  

Mémorial de Caen 

If you have just one museum to visit outside the centre, make it the Mémorial de Caen. It covers both world wars in detail, but is particularly strong on World War II. Superb themes, artefacts, videos and more will really bring history to life. But be warned, some of the story is very uncomfortable. The museum moves from One War to Another, through France in the dark years of the 30s, from European to World War and more to finish with, through Genocide, and propaganda to the end of the war…and what impact it had. There’s an excellent section on the D-Day Landings which I recommend you see before setting off around the sites around Caen. It ends with a 19-minute film.

The museum then continues to the Cold War and more. Don’t miss General Richter’s Underground Bunker which is a separate building.

Le Mémorial de Caen
Esplanade Général Eisenhower
CS 55026
14050 Caen Cedex 4
Tel : +33 (0) 2 31 06 06 45
Website
Opening times vary during the year so check the website. But mainly the museum is open daily 9am-6pm.
Tickets: Adult €20.80; child and seniors €18.50; Family €53. Other rates valuable.
Combined tickets with other attractions also available.

More about Normandy

Normandy Impressionist Festival 2026
Normandy and Impressionism – A general overall look at the great Impressionist art movement and what to see in Normandy
Guide to the Impressionist Painters
Normandy Travel Guide – What to see and Do in Normandy
Getting to Normandy

World War II in Normandy

D-Day Landing Beaches from Utah to Sword

Caen Tourism Website

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May is such a lovely month and still relatively quiet so you can see the sights at your own pace before the crowds arrive. The weather is good and the parks and gardens have woken up and are blossoming. Look out for these major events in France in May 2026.

To May 11, 2026: Foire de Paris. The annual Paris Fair has around 400,000 visitors and 1,250 exhibitors. Held at Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles, it’s the place for a huge shopping binge for your house, garden crafts, second hand clothes and more…and don’t forget the entertainment.

To Sep 20, 2026: Normandy Impressionist Festival celebrates the 150^th 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. Events are still being confirmed which I will add as they appear.

This year, Normandy and Paris commemorate the death of Claude Monet in 1926. More details later.

More about Normandy and Impressionism
Normandy and Impressionism
Guide to Impressionist Painters

To Nov 1, 2026: Giverny, Claude Monet’s house and garden open for the season. A visit is a must on most people’s itinerary and this year with so many great events in Normandy it will be busier than ever.

To Nov 1, 2026: International Garden Festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire Château in the Loire Valley is a fabulous, huge Festival, equivalent to (and bigger than) the Chelsea Flower Show in London. The Château and its grounds are lovely and the festival of a series of gardens from international designers always delivers inspirational sights. This year’s theme pays tribute to cinema.

To Jan 2027: Chartres en lumières (Chartres Illuminated). The first night of this great festival starts with a 10km-long walk which you can join. This was the first city to light up its glorious buildings every night and it’s still one of the best light shows in France. Wander the streets to see monks walking, the theatre resplendent and the cathedral turned into the story of its past.

Events in France starting in May 2026

May 1, 2026: Labour Day (Fête du Travail or Fête du Premier Mais). As with other French public holidays, some attractions and museums will close. (For all French public holidays, see the link at the end of the article).

May 1, 2026: La Louche d’Or. The Golden Ladle Festival celebrates soup – over 100 different varieties in Lille, Nord. Streets and squares are full of stalls with their offerings. And there’s also a special Le Ptit Bouillon in the Square Ghesquière for children, with special events, music and of course…soup.

May 1-3, 2026: Fiera di u Casgiu. This fabulous cheese fair in Venacu, Corsica, offers great cheeses and a competition to find the best cheese on the island.

May 8, 2026: VE (Victory in Europe) Day (Fête de la Victoire 1945 or Jour de la Liberation) Like all public holidays in France, public offices and banks are closed, but you’ll find attractions and shops open. Many cities also hold parades.

May 8-10, 2026: The French Motorcycle Grand Prix takes place every year in Le Mans on the main racetrack. It’s an important event with around 100,000 people coming to the Bugatti circuit. You can see the race on giant screens. There’s entertainment including concerts, and a shopping village where you can buy all that gear. On Saturday evening there’s a special motor show where you can see and hear the riders talking about the sport and the race on stage.

If you’re in Le Mans, check out the fabulous 24-Hours of Le Mans car and motor bike museum. There’s plenty to see.

Here’s a general guide to Le Mans, a Tale of Two Cities: what to see and do, where to stay, eat and more. What surprised me (and many first-time visitors to Le Mans) is the beautifully preserved, and extensive, mediaeval quarter at the heart of the city. Guide to Plantagenet Le Mans.

8-10 May, 2026: Expo Rose. The annual Rose exhibition held in Grasse is a wonderful, fragrant event. Over 25,000 cut roses fill the streets, fountains, squares and gardens, turning the city into a garden.

May 10, 2026:  Fete de la Fraise in Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne  celebrates strawberries with a huge variety of cakes to try. And…the biggest strawberry tart in the world which is made specially for this festival, which you can have a slice of.  

May 12-23, 2026: Cannes Film Festival. The most famous film festival in the world is a glittering occasion on the Cote d’Azur. Prizes include the best film, best director, best actor, best actress, Jury Prize, Grand Prix and the famous Palme D’Or. The main screenings take place on the Boulevard de la Croisette, in the Festival and Conference Centre. It’s for professionals but many go to Cannes to catch sight of their favourites. And the outdoor Beach cinema is open to all and shows a different film every night.

May 8-16, 2026: Jazz Sous les Pommiers (Jazz under the Apple Trees). This well-established, important jazz festival is held at Coutances, in Normandy. Established and up-and-coming artists take part; there are performances in the streets and more. It’s spread over 7 stages including one for amateur musicians and it ranges from New Orleans jazz to electronic music.

May 13-17, 2026: Nuits Sonores is an urban-oriented electronic music festival in Lyon. The innovative and exciting programme welcomes performers from around the world. It takes place in museums, disused factories, a theatre and the city hall. And along with the music come contemporary art, exhibitions, films and more.

May 14, 2026: Ascension Day when public offices and banks are shut, but many attractions and shops stay open.

May 16-17, 2026: Coutellia is an extraordinary knife-makers event that attracts exhibitors from all over the world. It takes place in Thiers, one of the great knife-making centres in the Auvergne. There’s more about Thiers and Coutellia on MechTraveller’s excellent website.

May 16-17, 2026: The Sedan Medieval Festival takes over one of Europe’s greatest fortified castle. Make your way among camps, shows, workshops, children’s play areas, re-enactments of daily life and a medieval market with over one hundred stalls. Walk past the street musicians and watch the street theatre. On Saturday there’s a grand procession, followed by a show with 400 other costumed participants.
And you can stay here, in the 4-star hotel within the fort.

May 18-Jun 7, 2026: Roland Garros in Paris is one of the 4 major world Grand Slam tennis tournaments. It began in 1925 and today takes place on 20 clay courts. Each match is five sets with no deciding game in the last set. 

There are two major awards: the Musketeers’ Cup for men and the Suzanne Lenglen cup for women. The womens’ cup is named after the great tennis player who (among other things) was one of the early famous women wearing a bra invented in 1889 by Herminie Cadolle. There are also trophies for the winners of the men’s doubles, ladies’ doubles and mixed doubles.

May 21–24, 2026: Taste of Paris. Taking place at the Grand Palais, this is a great festival for gourmets. Top chefs serve signature dishes in small portions to sample. There’s also a gourmet market, tastings and demonstrations.

May 23, 2026: European Museum Night. Taking place throughout Europe, over 1,200 French museums open their doors, most free from 6pm to midnight.  There are often special events from storytelling tours to screenings and fireworks. There’s a specially intriguing one for me: a night walk and exploration of the Museum of the Battle of Gergovie when the Gauls overcame the Romans. The Auvergne is my region of France, though sadly I won’t be at my house on this occasion.

May 23-25, 2026: Gypsy pilgrimage to Les Saintes Maries de la Mer.  Romany community from around Europe gather to venerate their Saint Sara-la-Kali  (Sara the Black) who guards the Romanies where ever they live. The remains of Saint Sara are said to be in the crypt under the church in the town. Religious ceremonies honour the saint; children are baptized; there’s music, parades and celebrations. Why here? A boat with the two Biblical Marys and Sara on board was cast out of Palestine and drifted across the Mediterranean to land in the Rhône estuary.

May 28-Jul 25, 2026: Les Nuits de Fourvière in the Gallo-Roman theatres of Lyon is a magical feast of theatre, music, dance, opera and circus. Around 60 performances are watched by over 130,000 spectators.

May 28-Jun 23, 2026: Saint-Denis Festival is a superb festival in the great basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris and other buildings in the arrondissement. Classical music concerts from French and international orchestras range from the classics to contemporary. Some concerts are broadcast on a giant screen in front of the basilica and there are plenty of events for children as well. It’s not every day so check the website for dates and times.

May 30-31, 2026: Joan of Arc Festival (Fêtes Johanniques) in Reims, Champagne. Joan of Arc persuaded the dauphin Charles to be crowned in Reims cathedral on July 17, 1429. The Festival celebrates the event with a huge medieval fair, culminating in a historical re-enactment of them arriving in Reims. But there’s much more – a medieval village with craftspeople, minstrels and jugglers in the streets and everyone in period costume.  Or watch a falconry display, wool-spinning and stone-cutting workshops.

May 30-Jun 30, 2026: D-Day Commemorated. The official events begin on Jun 1st, but there are many events starting the day before. Check out the local tourist office. Events around Caen run from June 1st to 14th, 2026.

Read the D-Day Landing Beach Tour from Utah to Sword
For accommodation near the D-Day Landing Beaches, check my article here.

May 31–Jun 6, 2026: CIC Normandy Channel Race starts in Caen on Sunday May 25 though the yachts gather from May 23. The 1000 mile race goes to the Fastnet Rock and back.

Events in France in 2026

Have I missed an event you think I should include? Please do let me know.

Events in France in January 2026
Events in France in February 2026
Events in France in March 2026
Events in France in April 2026
Events in France in June 2026
Events in France in July 2026
Events in France in August 2026
Events in France in September 2026
Events in France in October 2026
Events in France in November 2026
Events in France in December 2026

Major New Events and Openings in France in 2026

More about great Food Festivals in France
Public holidays in France

Here’s a quick guide to the French regions and departments to help you find where the events are taking place.

Regions of France
French Departments

The post Events in France in May 2026 appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

The wide-ranging Normandy Impressionist Festival (Normandie Impressionisme) runs from May 29 to September 27, 2026. It’s a great year for Impressionism, marking the centenary of Claude Monet’s death in Giverny. The artist spent the last 43 years of his life here, making and painting his garden, marking Monet’s painting into a more abstract mode. The theme of this year’s Impressionist Festival is one of questions and ideas around Un Possible Jardin – The Gardens of Possibilities – a Contemporary Homage to Claude Monet. It’s directly inspired by Monet’s Giverny garden and the idea of gardens that are personal and intimate or public, openness or closure, nature controlled or allowed to rampage free and more.

It’s a very French and philosophical approach, but if you want to, just enjoy the huge number of different exhibitions for the art alone, leaving the philosophy to others.

The contemporary trail takes the idea of Monet’s Giverny garden with a series of exhibitions in places like Honfleur, Rouen, Vernon, Le Havre and more.

The festival concentrates on important contemporary works. Some of the most famous international artists have contributed: Ai Weiwei, Fujiko Nakaya, Noemie Goudal and others.

The Birth of Impressionism

It’s the evening of April 15, 1874, and a group of 30 young, unknown and struggling  painters gather in the studio of the photographer Félix Nadar at 35 boulevard des Capucines for an exhibition of their work. The Cooperative and Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors and Printmakers included Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, Claude Monet, Camille Pissaro, Alfred Sisley and Paul Cézanne. They were showing works that had been rejected by the Académie des Beaux-Arts Salon. 

The exhibition was not a success; it was too revolutionary for the time. The name ‘Impressionism’ was coined as an insult by a Parisian journalist called Louis Leroy. He was writing about Monet’s Impressionism, Soleil Levant, a painting of the sun rising over the port at Le Havre and he referred to it as ‘unfinished’. He wrote sarcastically in the journal Charivari on April 25, 1874: “What does this painting represent? Impression! Impression, I was sure of it. I also said to myself, since I am impressed, there must be some impression in it.”

Impressionism was born in that studio, and greeted with universal initial horror; the style was such a complete change from the stuffy classicism of the past 100 years. It took decades before Impressionism was appreciated and the artists struggled for many years.

2026 Normandy Impressionist Festival

The exhibitions centre around Normandy and Paris, the two places most associated with the Impressionists. It was on the beaches of the Normandy coastline and along the bustling boulevards of Paris where the artists set up their easels to record life and paint in the open air, something made possible by the invention of oil paints in tubes.

Major Exhibitions of Normandy Impressionist Festival 2026

Museums in Normandy

Giverny

Musée des Impressionnismes: Monet in Giverny: Before the Water Lilies, 1883-1890 takes Monet’s early years here, from 1883 to 1890 when he bought the house and began designing the garden. 30 paintings depict poplars, meadows, the banks of the Epte and the Seine in different weather patterns: rain and sunlight, mist and clouds.
March 27 to July 5, 2026

Honfleur

Musée Eugène Boudin: In this exceptionally pretty little port town, the museum is featuring Monet’s early days as an artist. Boudin encouraged the young painter to go outdoors to paint en plein air.

Rouen

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen has the largest collection of works by Monet outside Paris. Particularly worth seeing are his paintings of Rouen Cathedral. In summer you can see the facades of Rouen Cathedral lit up nightly, usually from June to September. The theme for this year is still to be announced.

Studio DRIFT shows the installation Meadow, with water lily lights opening under the visitors’ heads. It’s in the city centre heritage space: the 10^th century Sainte-Croix-des-Pelletiers church.

Le Havre

The maritime city is not appreciated enough for its museums and galleries. But this year it pushes the boat out with Monet in Le Havre at the Museum of Modern Art (MuMa).

Monet lived in Le Havre as a child and a young man, from 1845 when Monet was five years old to 1874, a seminal year for Monet and Impressionism. It was a formative time: he painted his first canvas, View Taken at Rouelles as well as major works like The Pointe de la Hève at Sainte-Adresse (National Gallery, London) and Seascape:, Night Effect (1864, National Gallery, Scotland). At the mouth of the Seine Estuary, nearby Pointe de la Hève at Sainte-Adresse was seen as the ‘end of the world’.

His family and local collectors were immensely supportive, and his painter friends Eugene Boudin and Gustave Courbet introduced him to new patrons. The exhibition has documents not seen before about his life, paintings, drawings and sketchbooks as well as photographs.
June 5-September 27, 2026

Caen

Celeste Boursier-Mougenot created a sound installation inspired by Monet’s water lilies – Clinamen which is outdoors in Caen at the Colline aux Oiseaux Park. FRAC Normandie has a crysstal garden and a circle of 12 ‘sound swings’  (which you can play on) topped with church bells.

Paris

Musée de l’Orangerie: Monet – au fil de l’eau (Monet – In Real Time). The theme of Monet  painting time focuses on how Monet’s style clanged from the 1870s to the 1890s. Almost 40 paintings are displayed at the museum that was called a true ‘Sistine Chapel of Impressionism (Andre Masson in 1952), with particular focus on the famous Nymphéas (Water Lilies).
September 30, 2026 to January 25, 2027.

Musée Marmottan Monet: Houses the world’s largest collection of Monet paintings (including Impression, Sunrise). The museum will host Histoires du Paysage de Monet a Hockney (1890-1925). Focusing on landscape art it starts with Monet and then goes on to show works by major 20^th and 21^st century artists, ending with David Hockney’s famous Normandy pieces. 

La Maison Impressioniste Argenteuil

West of Paris on the banks of the Seine, Claude Monet lived in Argenteuil from 1871 to 1878. He painted over 256 works here, with 156 depicting Argenteuil. His studio and living rooms have been reconstructed in the Museum. Along with the documents here you get an idea of Monet’s life and work.

Monet’s House in Vétheuil

Claude Monet lived in a rented house in Vétheuil, about 15 minutes from Giverny, from 1878 to 1881. It was an unhappy time for the artist; his first wife Camille, died here and his paintings were not selling. But the paintings of his small, steep garden are lush and happy. You can visit the house this year at specific times. Check the website for openings.
Apr 1-Oct 31, 2026.

Where to see Clade Monet’s paintings in Paris

Musée d’Orsay has the greatest collection of Impressionist paintings in the world. 

Houses and Studios of the Impressionists

Walking around an artist’s house and studio gives a wonderfully realistic feel of the painter, their life and work. The most visited, and well-known, is the house of Claude Monet in Giverny (see above).

Visit any of these other houses during the Normandy Impressionist Festival 2026; all are well worth a detour.

Jean-François Millet was born in 1841 in Gréville-Hague, northeast Normandy. The modest house is now a museum, recalling his childhood in the mid 19th century.
In 1849 he moved to Barbizon on the edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau and lived there until 1875. Here he painted the local rural life, in particular L’Angélus and Les Glaneuses, two canvases that have been exhibited around the world. The Millet Museum has his paintings as well as other Impressionist painters, engravings and prints.

Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) lived in Yerres from 1860 to 1880. The large Caillebotte Museum south of Paris occupies his house. A visit takes you back to the late 19th-century and gives you the chance to see many of his works.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) spent his final days at the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise. He lived in the atmospheric room under the eaves of the house in a Paris suburb. Today it’s a restaurant; have lunch or dinner then see the room.
More about Vincent van Gogh in Paris.

More Impressionist Delights to Savour

There are plenty of events put on at the Impressionist Normandy festival.
Take a cycle tour around Giverny with a guide who knows the village well and makes sure you see all the major sites linked to Claude Monet.

Try your hand at painting like an Impressionist. The Alabaster Coast provides the inspiration; you provide (hopefully) the artistic expertise, with an art teacher to guide you.

If you want to experience how the Impressionist painters spent their leisure hours, try the Founaise restaurant at Chatou. It’s a restaurant but the outside terrace recalls the guinguettes, open-air cafés often located beside a river where the atmosphere was casual and the food and drink offering a cheap and cheerful option.

Look at both these official websites for all the information on the wide-ranging exhibitions and events:

Impressionist Adventures
Normandy Impressionist Festival 2026 – Normandy Tourist Office

Normandy and Impressionism – A general overall look at the great Impressionist art movement and what to see in Normandy
Guide to the Impressionist Painters

Normandy Travel Guide – What to see and Do in Normandy
Getting to Normandy

The post Normandy Impressionist Festival 2026 appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

It’s a packed diary for events in France in July 2026 with something to see and do in every region and every big city. The famous Tour de France cycles its way around the country; Bastille Day is as big as ever and you might find it difficult to choose a music, theatre or outdoor event.

Check out the events in France in July 2026 to plan your visit in advance.

To Jul 4, 2026: La Rochelle International Film Festival on the French Atlantic coast explores the world of films from everywhere. 250 films, historic and contemporary are shown at a festival that prides itself on the unusual and the unknown (many are not distributed through the usual channels). Retrospectives rediscover forgotten works and stars.

This year it’s the turn of Jacques Tati who produced the hilarious Monsieur Hulot films. If you want to see where Monsieur Hulot stayed, check out my article on Saint Nazaire. Saint-Marc-sur-Mer is just outside the town.  New films bring European and international works to the audience. International stars always come to this festival.

To Jul 5, 2026: Les Zaccros d’ma Rue in Nevers in the Loire Valley is as wacky as its title. Around 50 different troupes offer theatre, circus and magic with performances, brass bands, street parades, fire shows and more.

To Jul 8, 2026:  Chorégies d’Orange started in 1869, making it the oldest festival in France. It’s held in the magnificent Roman Théâtre Antique, which seats 8,600 people, has superb acoustics and puts on popular operas and classical music.

To Jul 10, 2026: Les Flaneries de Reims is a great classical music festival that also includes world music and jazz. Around 60 concerts, many of them free, take place around the city: in the St. Remi Basilica, the Opera, the Manège de Reims Circus, the Palace of Tau and Reims Station Forecourt. A big outdoor picnic finishes the festival. Free shuttles take people from one part of the city to another. 

To Jul 11, 2026: Jazz à Vienne, Isère. Great names lined up for this annual popular jazz festival held in the Théâtre Antique which can hold over 7,000 spectators. Over 200,000 people descend on the city to see the performances at venues from Jazz Mix to the Cybèle stage. There’s a Jazz Parade and if you’re near Vienne you might catch the Caravan’Jazz which travels around the local communes. Check the website for precise dates as it’s not daily.Isère is a fabulous place to visit (there’s more on Isère here).

To Jul 21, 2026: Summer Sales throughout France.
Read more about Discount shopping, malls, bargains and sales in France.
And…Flea markets and brocante fairs are always great entertainment.

To Jul 25, 2026: Les Nuits de Fourvière in the Gallo-Roman theatres of Lyon is a magical feast of theatre, music, dance, opera and circus. Around 60 performances are watched by over 130,000 spectators.

To Jul 26, 2026: Festival de Nîmes in Occitanie. Music festival with a big line up of top stars like Eddy Mitchell and Santana. The festival has been wowing the crowds 1997 and is one of the important festivals in the south of France. But hurry; many concerts sell out very quickly.

To Sep 6, 2026: Paris Jazz Festival.25 free festivals spread over the summer take place in the Parc Floral in  jazz, world music and Afro-American music (soul, blues). Along with the concerts, there are workshops where you can make instruments from salvaged objects, introductions to percussion and conferences as well as a sound discovery area for children in the Botanic Garden. All concerts and activities are free; there’s a charge for admission to the park.

To Sep 20, 2026: Normandy Impressionist Festival celebrates the 150^th 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.

This year, Normandy and Paris commemorate the death of Claude Monet in 1926.

More about Normandy and Impressionism
Normandy and Impressionism
Guide to Impressionist Painters

To Oct 4, 2026:  La Gacilly Photo Festival is a wonderful outdoor photo festival. For three months, hundreds of large format photos are displayed in the parks, green maze, squares and streets of the small town in Morbihan, Brittany.

To Nov 1, 2026: Giverny, Claude Monet’s house and gardens open for the season. A visit is a must on most people’s itinerary and this year with so many great events in Normandy it will be busier than ever.

To Nov 1, 2026: International Garden Festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire château in the Loire Valley is a fabulous, huge Festival, the Chelsea Flower Show of France. The Château and grounds are lovely and the festival of a series of gardens from international designers always delivers some surprises. This year’s theme plays tribute to the cinema and gardens.

To Jan, 2027: Chartres en lumières sees this wonderful city illuminated for its annual festival of light. It’s nightly so there’s no excuse to miss it.  

Events in France starting in July 2026

Jul 1-4, 2026: Cognac Blues Passions. Taking the blues as its initial inspiration, the festival brings an eclectic mix each year. The main stage is in the public park; other musicians perform on the banks of the Charente River.

Jul 1-31, 2026: Carcassonne Festival is fabulous in a superb setting. 120 shows (80 of which are free in the OFF festival) are performed on 11 stages taking in opera, theatre, dance, music classes. With over 250,000 visitors it’s one of the biggest festivals in France. 2026 has the Sex Pistols, Chris Izaak, Carmina Burana and a lot more.

Jul 2-5, 2026: The Belfort Eurockéennes is an important European outdoor festival held between hills and lakes on the  Malsaucy Lake peninsula, 7 kms from Belfort, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. Over 100,000 people gather for the concerts that feature international stars and up-and-coming bands playing a mix of music: rock, pop, hip-hop, electro, French popular song, folk and reggae. There’s a free temporary campsite.

Jul 2-21, 2026: International Festival of Art in Aix-en-Provence offers opera, classical music concerts, ballet and performances. The Festival takes place in glorious buildings like the courtyard of the Archbishop’s Palace, the Opera, Théâtre de l’Archevêché, Grand Théâtre de Provence, Théâtre du Jeu de Paume and Hôtel Maynier. Over 70,000 spectators attend every year.

Jul 3-5, 2026: Arras in Pas de Calais hosts the Main Square Festival, presenting around 50 concerts in this beautiful city. Over 100,000 fans come for music on the two festival stages ranging from rock to electronic, pop and folk.

Jul 3-5, 2026: Hot Air Balloon Festival, Annonay, Ardeche was started by the famous brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier on June 4 June, 1783. There’s a special hot-air balloon village, a funfare, music, concerts, night time show, street theatre and more.

Jul 3-5, 2026: Festival du lin. The Linen festival in Le Bourg Dun in Normandy is themed around flax. Around twenty exhibitions show off traditional and contemporary textile art and there’s a fashion show, a linen fabric fair, workshops and tours of the Terre de Lin factory and other linen enterprises.

Jul 4-25, 2026: Avignon Festival. Founded in 1947 this festival has grown to become one of the biggest for international contemporary live performance events. It’s a beautiful city, so seeing a performance here is truly magical. Over 130,000 people come for theatre, visual arts, dance and music. Every night there’s a premiere of a new work.

Jul 4-26, 2026: Tour de France. The world’s greatest cycling race this year stays entirely within the country. It begins in Barcelona in north Spain, and ends, as usual, in Paris.

Jul 4, 14, 22, Aug 5, 15, 24, 2026: Cannes Pyrotechnic Art Festival is a sight to behold. It takes place at 10pm and it’s huge. On the 400-meter long sea front, over 200,000 watch it from the Croisette. But you can also see it from around the bay and if you’re at the Jazz a Juin festival it finishes the evening off with pizazz. Six different countries compete in a competition (except on July 14 which is exclusively French) for the best and spectators can vote online on the website.

Jul 4-Sep 6, 2026: Le Voyage à Nantes. This festival is one of the most exciting, and original, summer events in France. It’s an urban trail with works of art, some of which are new, others are permanent. 30 or so different works start at the former LU factory by the Canal Saint-Félix, then continue past iconic sites and buildings like the castle of the Dukes of Brittany and the Machines de l’Isle park with its grand elephant. A green line on the ground takes you along the itinerary. Don’t worry if you miss it; there is a permanent Voyage à Nantes throughout the city.

Jul 5-14, 2026: Colmar International Festival attracts some of the greatest talents in classical music. Chamber music, solo and full orchestras perform in three different venues with music by Tippett/Corelli, Britten, Bach, Mozart and more.

Jul 6-Oct 4, 2026: Les Rencontres d’Arles is a huge, well established international photo expo, now 50 years old. Over sixty exhibitions take place in heritage locations and most of the exhibits have not been seen before.

Jul 7-12, 2026:  Marseille Film Festival, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône. Over 200 films from around 30 different countries are shown, many for the first time. There are three competitions: international, French and debut films. Open to professionals and the public at cinemas, art galleries, theatres and outdoor amphitheatres. There are also retrospectives and great classics. Around 500 professionals and over 20,000 spectators attend.

Jul 9-12, 2026: Amundi Evian Championship features the world’s great female golfers and is the only Major in Europe. It’s played on a beautiful 18-hole golf course above Lake Geneva. Learn more about the sport at the fair where you can test gear. Get there on a free shuttle between Evian and the Golf Course.

Jul 9-19, 2026: Jazz à Juan Festival swings into this famous south of France resort with one of the best jazz festivals in Europe. The line-up is about to be announced, but the programme is always exciting with the top names. There’s an Off Festival in the streets of Antibes and Juan-les-Pins.
Find great budget places to stay in Antibes/Juan-les-Pins.

Jul 10-14, 2026: Francofolies in La Rochelle takes you into contemporary French song and music. Traditional and modern music and a series of events outside the festival help young artists develop.

Jul 14, 2026: Bastille Day is France’s greatest holiday with celebrations throughout the country. Watch out for local events and fireworks. And also start watching out for traffic jams; it’s traditionally the start of France’s national one-month long summer vacation. Of all the events in July and throughout the year, this is the best known.

French public holidays

Jul 15-19, 2026: Festival of 1001 Notes in Limoges takes classical music as its starting point but incorporates jazz and world music. It’s a festival to see up-and-coming artists. In the intervals there are dinners and picnics and after the concert there’s a chance to meet with the artists and others in the bar.

Jul 16-19, 2026: Vieilles Charrues or the Old Plough Festival in Carhaux-Plouguer, Finistere, Brittany is huge. Around 250,000 come to the festival which covers all the main styles including hip-hop, rock and even opera. Robbie Williams, Morcheeba, Silly Boy Blue, Blur, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and many more. There are also street art shows to see.

Jul 16-Aug 16, 2026:  International Piano Festival, widely regarded as one of the most important piano festivals in the world, takes place in La Roque d’Anthéron, just 25 kms from Aix-en-Provence. Outdoor and indoor concerts.
In the intervals there are dinners and picnics and after the concert there’s a chance to meet with the artists and others in the bar.

Jul 17-25, 2026: Souillac en Jazz (Sim Copans Festival) in the Lot, Dordogne Valley offers different jazz styles in the magnificent Romanesque abbey. Around forty free concerts in the streets and Lacave Caves add to the festival.

Jul 20-Aug 4, 2026: Jazz in Marciac, Gers, Occitanie. This great jazz festival attracts over 200,000 people each year to listen to the likes of Melody Gardot, Anthony Strong and the Barcelona Jazz Orchestra, James Blunt, Gogo Penguin and Jamie Cullum and Wynton Marsalis. It begins with Sting on July 20 this year. There’s also a fringe festival on the main square.

Jul 21-26, 2026: Equestria, Tarbes, Hautes-Pyrénées. The National Stud Farm in Tarbes puts on this exceptional equestrian show every year.  Over 400 horses and 500 performers from the arts and the equestrian world perform a series of newly created choreographed events in the different rings. There are some pretty stunning tricks to see. And make for the village for something different.

Jul 23-25, 2026: Cognac Festival in Charente celebrates two things. Firstly the region’s wine and spirit products and local food (Charentais melon and local oysters, mussels, meat, cheeses and more). Walk along the marina past the fishermen’s huts specially converted for the event and sit and sample. Secondly in the evenings, two great concerts take place with top musicians.

Jul 23-26, 2026: Cornouaille Festival, Quimper, Brittany. This is a must for anyone interested in Breton culture as well as other Celtic traditions, with over 250,000 spectators attending each year. Over 200 shows and events, most of them free, showcase the trades of the past, bell-ringers and more. An antique markets and booksellers fill the quayside.

Jul 23-26, 2026: Nice Jazz Festival. This has always been one of the greats since it started in 1948. Two stages with simultaneous events are set up just off the Promenade des Anglais. Expect big stars.

Jul 24-26, 2026: Les Escales World Music Festival, Saint-Nazaire, Loire-Atlantique. Down in the town’s harbour, Les Escales is a feast of traditional and contemporary multi-cultural music. Around 40,000 people gather for around 50 concerts on 5 stages. Hip-Hop, Rock, Globe-Trotter, Rap, Techno-Disco…you name it, you’ll find it here. Street shows and exhibitions complete the attractions.
More about Saint-Nazaire – a city well worth a visit.

Jul 25-31, 2026: Le Festival du film de Lama in Corsica takes place in a medieval village. Around 20 feature film premières, programmes for children, a short film competition and documentary screenings take the theme of the rural world in France and abroad. The festival is at three different places: the swimming pool (great views of the mountains), Place de l’Umbria and the Mercatu in the village’s centre (cushions and pillows provided).

Jul 26, 2026: Garlic and Basilic Fair in the main square of Tours in the Loire Valley is a site to behold (and to smell). If you think you know your garlic, think again.
Loire Valley Drive from Tours to Saumur

Jul 26-Aug 7, 2026: Festival Saint-Céré, Saint-Céré, Lot. The delightful town hosts a lyric festival with four alternating shows and 40 events performed in the town and throughout the Lot department. The productions then tour France during the following winter.
From Saint-Céré you can see the towers of the Saint-Laurent-les-Tours castle where the artist Jean Lurçat lived and worked…and during World War II operated a secret radio for the French Resistance. He’s best known as a driving force in the creation of modern French tapestry in the 20^th century.

Here’s the Story of Tapestry in France

Jul 28-Aug 8, 2026: Pablo Casals Festival. Since 1950, world famous soloists, and up and coming young groups, have performed in Prades in Pyrénées-Orientales. The festival, which takes place in historic religious buildings like the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, focuses on chamber music from Bach to Mozart, as well as contemporary works. Also here: meetings with artists and film screenings.

Jul 31-Aug 2, 2026:  Festival du Bout du Monde. The annual festival on the Crozon Peninsula, Finistère, Brittany, attracts the crowds for its music and its setting near the sea. International artists, some well known, some new ones, perform on 3 stages.

Jul 31-Aug 9, 2026: Festival Interceltique Lorient. Music and culture from the Morbihan Peninsula in Brittany plus the Celtic people of Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Ireland and northern Spain (Galicia and Asturias). Over 800,000 festival-goers flock here for 4,500 artists, 120 shows, 11 new creations, all performed on 11 stages. Booksellers line the quays along with the Celtic market. There are processions, fest-noz, traditional Breton games, a race and a dinner concert.

Events in France in 2026

Have I missed an event you think I should include? Please do let me know.
Events in France in January 2026
Events in France in February 2026
Events in France in March 2026
Events in France in April 2026
Events in France in May 2026
Events in France in June 2026
Events in France in August 2026
Events in France in September 2026
Events in France in October 2026
Events in France in November 2026
Events in France in December 2026

Major New Events and Openings in France in 2026

More about great Food Festivals in France
Public holidays in France

Here’s a quick guide to the French regions and departments to help you find where the events are taking place.

Regions of France
French Departments

The post Events in France in July 2026 appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

Here are some top Normandy Events in 2025 to look out for.

Caen Millennium in 2025

Caen celebrates its Millennium in great style in 2025. There are plenty of exhibitions and some wonderful events like the weekend June 27-29 when the tall ships gather at Caen port and la Presqu’île. The celebration continues into the autumn.
Read more about the Caen Millennium

Last Chance to See the Bayeux Tapestry

To Sep 1, 2025: The Bayeux Tapestry Museum is closing as a new museum is built. The extraordinary 11^th-century tapestry will be kept in a specially designed storage area. It’s a classified Historic Monument, listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register.
The new museum is scheduled to open in 2027.

D-Day Landings

Apr 12-Sep 12, 2025: Standing with Giants. Get to the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer overlooking Gold Beach for a return of Standing with Giants. The extraordinary installation of 1,475 figures includes soldiers as well as radio operators, medics and a Scotsman playing the bagpipes. There are also figures representing the only two women on the Memorial. Nurses Sisters Evershed and Field died while saving 75 men from a sinking hospital ship, plus 50 French resistance fighter. The figures in the meadows of the Memorial are extraordinarily moving. This is one of the must-see events in Normandy 2025.
Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches from Utah to Sword

‘I Must Go Down to the Sea Again…’

There are some wonderful events in the sea around Normandy in 2025.

May 23–Jun 1, 2025: CIC Normandy Channel Race starts in Caen on Sunday May 25. Sailors take their Class 40s up the Canal de l’Orne into the English Channel then make a detour via the Iles Saint-Marcouf in the Utah beach section of the D-Day Landings in 1944. Then it’s up around the Isle of Wight before heading west to sail around the Tuskar Rock and Fastnet Rock to the south of Ireland. The yachts then return to Caen via Guernsey where they’ll encounter the strong currents of the Raz-Blanchard. Past the Goury Lighthouse, situated at ‘the end of the world’ off Cape Hague, and they’ve completed the 1000-mile race.

July 4-7, 2025: The 2025 Tall Ships Races begins in Le Havre. Over 40 of these magnificent boats are moored in Le Havre for four days of celebration and discovery. There’s a boat and a crew parade, concerts and fireworks before they set off for Dunkirk. From there they’ll go to Aberdeen in Scotland and Kristiansland in Norway before finishing in Esbjerg, Denmark.
The Tall Ships Races are more than great voyages; they’re designed to train the young (over half of each ship’s crew must be between 15 and 25 years old) and encourage international friendship.

Jul 26-Aug 2, 2025: Start of the 100^th Rolex Fastnet Race on July 26. Setting off from Cowes, the race celebrates 100 years both of the race itself, and the founding of the Royal Ocean Racing Club in 1925. The 695-nautical mile course is one of the world’s great offshore races around the Fastnet Rock south of Ireland. It finishes at Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. The fastest sailors take a couple of days; others can take five to eight. Cherbourg welcomes them all with a week’s celebration.
The first race in 1925 had just 7 boats, a select bunch who went on to form the Royal Ocean Racing Club. This year it’s anticipated to be over 400 boats of all ages, monohulls and multihulls and all classes.  
It’s a gruelling, demanding race with strict rules for entry, aimed at experienced sailors who have competed in a fixed number of races in the year leading up to the race.

On Two Wheels

July 8-10, 2025: On Jul 8, the Tour de France takes to the road for the 173 km ride from Amiens to Rouen. Jul 9 it’s in Caen for an individual time trial, and on Jul 10 the 210 km course goes from Bayeux to Vire-Normandie before heading for Brittany.

Other News about Normandy

UNESCO AND THE D-DAY LANDING BEACHES

The D-Day Landings on the beaches in 1944 are in line for UNESCO World Heritage Status. All five sectors are included, as, according to the Ministry of Culture, the beaches represent a “place of gathering around a universal message” and carry “the memory of a fight for freedom and peace”.

Brittany Ferries Goes Green with New Hybrid Ships

Brittany Ferries have launched two new hybrid ferries. Guillaume de Normandie runs between Portsmouth and Caen. Saint-Malo goes between Portsmouth and Saint-Malo in Brittany.

Events in Normandy 2026 & 2027

Jul 1-Aug 31, 2026: The Normandy Impressionist Festival is spectacular with exhibitions and events all over the region.

Normandy and Impressionism
Guide to the French Impressionist Artists…including three great female painters.

2027 sees a huge celebration for the Millennium of William the Conqueror. Normandy will be pulling out all the stops for this, and it will be a fabulous commemoration. One fabulous site I urge you to visit is the romantic ruined abbey of Jumièges. Founded in 654, the Benedictine monastery was rebuilt in the 10^th century and was consecrated in 1067 in the presence of William the Conqueror who had returned from England. It’s on my list of the great sacred sites of France.

June 17-27, 2027: Tall Ships Race. The largest gathering of tall ships returns to Rouen.

More Events in France

Events in France in May 2025
Events in France in June 2025
Events in France in July 2025

More about Normandy

Normandy Travel Guide
Best ways to travel to Normandy’s ports and major cities
Where to stay near the D-Day Landing Beaches
Guide to Courseulles-sur-Mer at the centre of the Landing Beaches
New Travel to and around Normandy: new flight and shuttle bus along the D-Day Landing Beaches
Normandy D-Day Festival 2025

More about Normandy on the official Normandy Tourism website

The post Great Normandy Events in 2025 appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

2025 is a big year for Caen as the city celebrates its Millennium in grand style. In 1025 Caen in Normandy was beginning to grow as the small port opened its trade to the world. It was still a small town but was about to become a significant player in Europe. And why? William the Conqueror of course.
Why choose 2025? Well any year might have been chosen. But 1025 marks the first written mention of Cadumus, a major settlement dating back to the Romans.

1,000 Years of History at the Caen Millennium 2025

The Caen Vigils

The Caen Millennium celebrations began a year ago with the Caen Vigils. From March 21, 2024 to March 20, 2025, local participants watch over Caen for one hour at sunrise and sunset. Each one drew or wrote about their impressions of seeing the sun rise and set over the old buildings. Their work will be available later.
Main Caen Millennium Events

Caen Château Events

The celebrations begin on March 20 with two days of discovery. It’s about more than the celebration: on March 20, Caen Château reopens after two years of renovations. There’s entertainment and a spectacular fire and fireworks event, orchestrated by La Machine company from Nantes which makes grand objects like the fire-breathing Calais Dragon.
Each evening from 19.50 to 23.00 a monumental fresco is projected onto the outer walls of the castle.
Caen Castle Inauguration

History Days

March 21-28, 2025: Les Journées de l’Histoire. Find out more about Caen’s long history with exhibitions, visits, ateliers open to the public, films, walks and more. They take place at the Château, l’Abbaye-aux-Dames and l’Université, and all are free.
In the park of l’Abbaye aux dames, a reconstructed medieval village takes you back to the days of Richard II. See how people lived in the past. And of course, there’s a diorama of the conquest of England at the Battle of Hastings.

Caen Château offers an immersive experience in the former Exchequer Office, built between 1098 and 1122, taking you through Caen’s history to today.

Caen Millennium Parade

May 9, 2025: This ambitious parade has a 5km trail that takes you through five stations, each symbolising a period of Caen’s history or key events like the city’s construction. At each one, a poetics troupe of 100 participants tell the story. It starts at 7.30pm.

Maritime Weekend

Jun 27-29, 2025: Le Week-end Maritime from Caen to the sea. Look at those great ships of the past at Caen port and la Presqu’île. For two days you can go on board to discover more about the different ships like le Belem, le Phoenix, le Milpat, la Granvillaise and la Nébuleuse. There are concerts, projections, activities and more before the major parade on June 29.
The flotilla will move to Le Havre for the Tall Ships Race July 4-7.

June 27-29, 2025: Ephemeral Objects. Constructed by the artist Olivier Grossetête and his team, four works made from strengthened cardboard astonish Caen. There’s a lighthouse, a Swedish house, a fishing lodge inspired by the château de Bénouville and a bridge floating on the canal.

Débordions

Débordions (which approximately translates as ‘overflowing’) starts on the weekend of June 27 to 29 then continues to October. Caen’s Presqu’île is transformed into a living art-science-society laboratory via a trail that, in true French fashion, invites you to discover, reflect and marvel. Here you’ll find six giant zootropes that you interact with to show images and films.

Le Tour de France

While not part of the Caen Millennium, the Tour de France visits Caen on July 11. Stage 5 is an individual time trial over 33km.

Aquanauts

September 19-21, 2025: Aquanauts promises to be something spectacular. This aquatic and aerial ballet by the Swedish company Cirkus Cirkör takes place in Saint-Pierre. 40 circus artists and swimmers blend together to take your eye, and imagination, to the skies and beyond.

More about Normandy

Normandy Travel Guide
Normandy and Impressionism

D-Day Landing Beaches from Utah to Sword

How to get to Caen

Brittany Ferries unveils the Guillaume de Normandie, one of its two new hybrid ferries that operates between Portsmouth and Caen. Starting in April, it’s an important feature of France’s eco credentials, operating on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and battery power.

How to get to Caen from the UK

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The D-Day Festival in Normandy happens every year but this year it’s special, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings. There are special D-Day Festival in Normandy events from May 27 to June 18 but the most important dates are from June 1 to 9. Towns, villages, museums, military sites put on exhibitions, events and a whole lot more. It happens all along the coast where the D-Day Landings took place as well as inland.

The Festival runs from the east at Merville-Franceville, to Caen, Audrieu, Montfiquet, along all the beaches then into the Cotentin Peninsula up to Cherbourg and down the west side to Portail-sur-Mer.

From June 1 to 9, Normandy will be packed with visitors attending the exhibitions, concerts, picnics, military vehicle parades, dances, films, special camps, parachute drops and a whole lot more. 

What to See and Do

Every Tourist Office in Normandy will have the booklet of all the events. So pick one up, look at the dates you will be there and choose what to see, experience, visit and take part in.

What Caught My Eye for the D-Day Festival in Normandy 2024

Saturday 1 June: Picnics are being organised, as well as concerts and re-enactments.

Arromanches-les-Bains: Huge artwork will be created from 9am on on the beach by Sébastien Yondo Makembe (Sym Arts). Picnics, concerts and ere-enactments.
Vierville-sur-Mer: Omaha Beach Freedom Picnic Concerts. Three concerts give you nearly 6 hours of live music, followed by fireworks at 11.30pm.

All Five Landing Beaches: As night falls, over 20 huge firework displays will light up the sky simultaneously over the five Landing Beaches. A fantastic family-friendly and free event.

June 2, 4, 6, 7: Paratrooper demonstrations at the Merville Battery. You’ll see how paratroopers prepared for their D-Day jumps.

June 4-9: Sainte-Mère-Église offers 6 days with demonstrations, exhibitions, concerts, jumps, re-enactments, music, dancing and more.

June 5: Saint-Lô: International Ceremony in tribute to the civilian victims.
Sword Beach: Around 200 musicians from 13 different nations will parade along the beach for the international Pipers Parade. 3.30pm to 5pm. Look up into the sky for a flight of vintage British Piper aircraft.

Events on June 6, 2024

The official international ceremony of the D-Day Festival events in Normandy takes place on Thursday 6 June 2024 on Omaha Beach. Heads of state, veterans and officials will commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day (by invitation only). If you’re there, remember that many beaches and roads will be cordoned off with no access to visitors, vehicles etc.

Special events before and after: Franco-American Ceremony in Colleville-sur-Mer, before the official International Ceremony.
Franco-Canadian Ceremony in Courseulles-sur-Mer, after the official International Ceremony.

King Charles and Queen Camilla join French President Emmanuel Macron, PM Rishi Sunak and labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at a special celebration at the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer. The British King and Queen then open the Winston Churchill Centre for Education and Learning. This is the first official and very important ceremony at the Memorial.

Prince William is at the Canadian commemorative event at the Juno Beach Centre, Courseulles-sur-Mer. He will then join over 25 heads of state and veterans for the official international ceremony on Omaha Beach. 

In Arromanches-les-Bains
World War II military uniforms and vehicles on display 10am-6pm
Somme Battlefield Pipe Band: an association dedicated to promoting the music and history of Scottish soldiers. Their musical repertoire consists mainly of traditional Scottish tunes, with a few Irish, American, Canadian and Australian tunes. 5-6pm
Fireworks at Arromanches-les-Bains 11.30pm

Everywhere in the World: Listen at 7.44pm (French time) as Liberty Bell Towers in France and around the world will ring out the message for memory, liberty and peace.

June 7: Two very special events will take place though only to an invited audience and with huge restrictions and security:
Ceremony with American President Joe Biden in Cherbourg
Bayeux Liberation Ceremony with President Macron in Bayeux

Jun 7: Arromanches-les-Bains: As part of British D-Day Week, display of 300 historic D-Day vehicles, opposite the remains of the Winston Churchill artificial Mulberry harbour.
Musical stages: Jazz band, Pipe band, French songs.

June 8
Arromanches-les-Bains: The Patrouille de France Air Show takes to the skies above the town from 3pm to 6pm.
Douvres-la-Déliverandes: The 35-strong brass band Le Bagad de Lan-Bihoué will march in front of costumed people on foot and on bicycles, followed by vintage military and civilian vehicles. Evening ball; refreshment bar and food trucks. 4 to 11pm.

June 8, 9: Isigny-sur-Mer. Isigny Swing festival, a free two-day festival of concerts and swing dancing in the Parc de l’Hôtel de ville.

June 9: La Fière. From 10am watch the large parachute drop with characters in period costume jumping from several C-47s, historic aircraft. Followed by military troop drops. Bring appropriate clothing and a picnic.

Bayeux Liberty Parade. As part of British D-Day Week, a traditional parade of 300 historic vehicles, including British ones, will drive along the southern ring road (Liberty Alley) of the first liberated town in mainland France. 11pm-12.30pm.
Port-en-Bessin. Display of around 100 historic D-Day vehicles, in the centre of the first oil port of D-Day. Musical stages: Jazz band, Pipe band, French songs. 4-6pm.
Longues-sur-Mer: Display of around 100 historic D-Day vehicles, near the German Coastal Defense Battery.

More D-Day Festival Events after the Big Ceremonies

Don’t worry if you come after June 9 and the big events; there’s plenty to see and do in Normandy along the D-Day Landing Beaches, lasting until November, 2024. Here’s a very small selection but you will discover a whole lot more from the local tourist offices.

June 11: Caen. Girly Swing Band. Dance to pre-war music (Charles Trenet, Edith Piaf, Mistinguett). 8pm to 10pm.

June 27: Caen, Utah Beach and other D-Day landing sites. Grand Choral pour la Paix sees a full orchestra and 250 singers perform music and songs around the theme of peace from Queen, Beethoven, Balavoine, Voulzy, Karl Jenkins and many more, plus an original creation for this project. Le jour où tu reviendras (The Day You Return) recounts the war from the point of view of the mother of a young soldier at the front, who trembles every day as she listens to the radio. 8pm to 10.30pm.

Reconstructions of Military Camps

Jun 2-6: Walk around the military camps specially reconstructed to show what life was like. Tents, vehicles, displays and more at Bloody Gulch, Meutis, Normandy Victory Museum at Carentan-les-Marais, Camp Géronimo at Sainte-Mere-Eglise, Arromanches-les-Bains, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Omaha (Vierville-sur-Mer), Merville-Franceville Plage and Camp Hillman at Colleville-Montgomery.

Military Fairs

For the real enthusiasts these take place in different places: June 2 at Grandcamp-Maisy and Carentan-les-Marais; Sainte-Mere-Eglise; in the command post in Crisbecq and Jun 7 at Vierville-sur-Mer.

Special Exhibitions of the D-Day Festival in Normandy

Caen:  Apr 15-Aug 23: Calvados, 6 June 1944. D-Day through the eyes of civilians. Exhibition at the Calvados Archives (free admission).

May 8, 2024-January 5, 2025: Caen Memorial Museum has a major exhibition dedicated to the United States between the wars: The Dawn of the American Century, 1919-1944. The museum will also be showcasing its new space, which has been transformed into a London Underground corridor. There are also exhibits devoted to the Resistance movement in Normandy.

Deauville: May 25-October 31: Robert Capa, Icons shows the photographer’s images shot on the beaches of Normandy, in partnership with Magnum Photos. At the Franciscaines de Deauville in the seaside resort of Deauville which is well worth a visit.

More on D-Day and Normandy

Major article on the Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches

Practical Information

All the events are listed in the D-Day Festival Brochure you can pick up at any tourist office in Normandy. It’s online here.

Events in France in May
Events in France in June

More about Normandy

How to Get to Normandy from the UK
New Travel to and around Normandy: new flight and shuttle bus along the D-Day Landing Beaches
Guide to Normandy
Guide to Courseulles-sur-Mer at the centre of the Landing Beaches

Accommodation & Hotels

Pierre et Vacances Self-Catering Apartment in Courseulles-sur-Mer and Normandy
Hotels and Accommodation near the D-Day Landing Beaches

The guide book D-Day Landing Beaches Guide Book by Mary Anne Evans and Alastair McKenzie published by Bradt Guides in March 2024.

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We all know something about the famous 19th-century Impressionist painters, but who were they? Here’s a quick guide so you can impress with your knowledge of the major characters of one of the world’s greatest (and favourite) art movements.

Impressionism as an art form is generally taken to start on the evening of April 15, 1874, when a group of young, struggling and unknown painters put on a show of their work in the studio of the photographer Félix Nadar at 35 boulevard des Capucines in Paris. The group included Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, Claude Monet, Camille Pissaro, Alfred Sisley and Paul Cézanne. They were showing works that had been rejected by the official Académie des Beaux-Arts Salon.  

The word ‘Impressionist’ was first coined by the French art critic Louis Leroy who hated the new style of art.  Derisively titling his article The Exhibition of the Impressionists, Leroy declared that Monet’s painting of Soleil Levant was at most, a sketch, and could hardly be termed a finished work. He wrote ‘Impression—I was certain of it. I was just telling myself that, since I was impressed, there had to be some impression in it…and what freedom, what ease of workmanship! Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape’. Little did he know.

Pre-Impressionist Painters

By the mid 1850s a new style was sweeping through the French art world. It was influenced by artists like the Romantic colourist Eugène Delacroix; the leader of the Realists, Gustave Courbet, and painters of the Barbizon school like Johan Barthold Jongkind, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Eugène Boudin. They had all begun to paint outdoors (en plein air) directly from nature in a spontaneous style. This group of artists befriended, advised and inspired the artists who came to define Impressionism.

Major Pre-Impressionist Painters

Jean-François Millet

Jean-François Millet (October 4, 1814-January 20, 1875) was one of the founders of the Barbizon School which flourished between 1830 and 1870. Millet moved to Barbizon in 1849, when he and his fellow artists were painting landscapes and scenes of rural life; Millet himself is noted for his paintings of peasant farmers. He is known best for his oil paintings but he also produced pastels, Conté crayon drawings and etchings.
He is buried in the graveyard at Chailly-en-Biere, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France

Charles-François Daubigny

Charles-François Daubigny (February 15, 1817-February 19, 1878) was known both as a painter and printmaker, mostly in the art of etching.  Born into a family of painters, he moved to Barbizon in 1843 and meeting Camille Corot and Gustave Courbet, his style changed from the traditional to working in the open air. He turned his boat into a studio and painted along the Seine and Oise, often around Auvers. He met Claude Monet in London in 1870 and later Paul Cézanne and influenced them both.
He is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris.

Eugène Boudin

Eugène Boudin (July 12, 1824-August 8, 1898) was born in Honfleur, the son of a harbour pilot. His love of painting sea and sky began when at age 10 he worked on a steamboat that plied its passage between Le Havre and Honfleur. He believed that one brushstroke the artist did outdoors was of more use than two days in the studio. He was a major influence on Claude Monet. Camille Corot called Boudin ‘the King of the Skies’.
He is buried in Saint-Vincent cemetery in Montmartre, Paris.

Édouard Manet

Édouard Manet (January 23, 1832-April 30, 1883) was one of the most influential of the Pre-Impressionist painters moving on from Realism. He was born into an upper-class family, and rejecting their choice of the navy as a career, turned to painting. In 1863, his major work, The Luncheon on the Grass (Le dejeuner sur l’herbe) or Olympia was rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts because it showed a nude woman with two clothed men at a picnic. It became one of the many paintings considered the watershed works that marked the beginnings of modern art. He painted a wide variety of subjects, from Paris café life to scenes of contemporary wars, from Paris streets to small still lifes.
He is buried in Passy cemetery, Paris.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (July 16, 1796-February 22, 1875). Corot’s father wanted him to become a draper, but at the age of 26 he decided it was not for him.  ‘I told my father that business and I were simply incompatible, and that I was getting a divorce.’
Despite this, his father gave him a yearly allowance so he could afford a studio, materials and travel unlike many of his fellow Impressionists.
From 1825 to 1828 he was in Italy, producing over 200 drawings and 150 paintings. In 1829 he was in Barbizon, meeting the members of the Barbizon school. 
He produced a huge amount of works, mainly landscapes in a style that still echoed the Neo-Classical tradition while anticipating open air Impressionism art. He was very successful and extremely generous to his fellow artists and their relatives, for instance, giving Millet’s widow 10,000 francs to support her and her children after her husband died.
He is buried in Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Eugène Delacroix

Eugène Delacroix (April 26, 1798-August 13, 1863) was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school, inspired by Rubens and the Venetian Renaissance painters. His dramatic works were expressive and his use of colour influenced the future Impressionists. He painted numerous religious works plus over 100 paintings from his trips to Spain and north Africa.
Delacroix’s most influential work came in 1830 with the painting Liberty Leading the People. The boy holding a pistol aloft on the right is sometimes thought to be an inspiration for the Gavroche character in Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel Les Misérables.
He is buried in Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Johan Barthold Jongkind

Johan Barthold Jongkind (June 3, 1819-February 9, 1891) was a Dutch painter and printmaker who influenced the Impressionists as much by his teaching as by his paintings (mainly marine landscapes). In 1862 in Honfleur he made friends with Alfred Sisley, Eugène Boudin and the young Claude Monet, who described him as ‘…a quiet man with such a talent that is beyond words’^.  He moved to the small town of La Côte-Saint-André near Grenoble in Isère.
He died in 1891 and is buried in the cemetery of La Côte-Saint-André.

Impressionist Painters

Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro

Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro (July 10, 1830-November 13, 1903). A Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter, he was influenced by Courbet and Corot, then worked with Georges Seurat and Paul Signac in the Neo-Impressionist style. 
He was a great mentor as Paul Cézanne remarked: ‘He was a father for me. A man to consult and a little like the good Lord’. Pierre-Auguste Renoir referred to his work as ‘revolutionary’.
Pissarro is the only artist to have shown his work at all eight Paris Impressionist exhibitions, from 1874 to 1886.
In the late 1860s, Pissarro became fascinated with Japanese prints, leading him to experiment in new compositions. He turned his back on Neo-Impressionism in the 1880s.
He is buried in  Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas (Degas, July 19, 1834-September 27, 1917) is best known for his pastel drawings and oil paintings, particularly of dancers. He helped organise the early Impressionist exhibitions, but never regarded himself as one of them. He despised the idea of working in the open air: ‘You know what I think of people who work out in the open. If I were the government I would have a special brigade of gendarmes to keep an eye on artists who paint landscapes from nature. Oh, I don’t mean to kill anyone; just a little dose of bird-shot now and then as a warning’.
It was his Parisian scenes, his off-centre compositions, his way of dealing with colour and form and his relationship with the Impressionist artists, most notably Mary Cassatt and Manet, which link him to Impressionism.
He is buried in  Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Oscar-Claude Monet

Oscar-Claude Monet (November 14, 1840-December 5, 1926) is the most famous of the Impressionist painters. He’s seen as a key precursor to modernism, painting nature as he saw it, particularly en plein air (outdoor) landscapes and was influenced early in his career by Boudin. The term Impressionism is derived from the title of his painting Impression, soleil levant, exhibited in 1874 (the ‘exhibition of rejects’) initiated by Monet and his associates as an alternative to the official Salon.
The family moved to Argenteuil in 1871 then from 1883, Monet lived in Giverny. He began to transform the property and garden, including the famous water-lily pond.
The painter wanted to document the French countryside and sights, capturing the changing of light and seasons by using the same subject many times throughout the year. The best known are his series of haystacks  (1890–1891), Rouen Cathedral (1892–1894), and the paintings of water lilies in his garden in Giverny. He was a success during his lifetime and after, becoming one of the world’s most famous painters.
He is buried in Giverny churchyard.
Monet Foundation Museum, Giverny

Pierre-August Renoir

Pierre-August Renoir (February 25, 1841- December 3, 1919). The leading Impressionist painter is known for his sensual pictures of women and delightful outdoor scenes. Influenced by Pissarro and Manet, he became successful relatively early on in his life. In 1890 he married Aline Victorine Charigot, twenty years his junior and painted her many times. In 1907, suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, he moved to Cagnes-sur-Mer in Provence.
His children included actor Pierre Renoir (1885–1952), filmmaker Jean Renoir (1894–1979) and ceramic artist Claude Renoir (1901–1969). He was the grandfather of the filmmaker Claude Renoir (1913–1993), son of Pierre.
He is buried in Essoyes, Aube.
Visit Renoir’s family home and studio in the small town of Essoyes in Champagne.

Alfred Sisley

Alfred Sisley (October 30, 1839-January 29, 1899). Born in Paris to wealthy British parents, Sisley spent most of his life in France but made significant trips to Britain. Of all the Impressionist painters, Sisley was the most dedicated proponent of plein air landscape painting. 
He painted the River Thames mostly around Hampton Court, East Molesey and Thames Ditton. 
Until 1880, Sisley lived and worked in the country west of Paris; then he and his family moved to a small village near Moret-sur-Loing,  close to the forest of Fontainebleau and near Barbizon. 
On August 5, 1897, Sisley and his partner married in Cardiff Register Office. They stayed in Penarth and Langland Bay on the Gower Peninsula, again producing notable landscapes. Sisley is also known for his paintings of the Seine and its bridges.
He is buried at Moret-sur-Loing.
Château at Fontainebleau

Frédéric Bazille

Frédéric Bazille (December 6, 1841-November 28, 1870). In 1862 Bazille moved to Paris, met Renoir and Sisley and began taking art classes. In 1864 he began painting full-time. Less well known than his peers, his close friends included Monet, Sisley and Manet.
He was relatively wealthy and helped support other artists by giving them space in his studio and materials to use. Many of Bazille’s major works are examples of figure painting where he placed the subject figure within a landscape painted outdoors.  
He fought in the Franco-Prussian war and was killed leading an assault against the Germans.
His father took his body back to be buried in Montpellier’s Protestant cemetery.

Gustave Caillebotte

Gustave Caillebotte (August 19, 1848-February 21, 1894) belonged to the Impressionist painters circle, but his paintings were more realistic than the others, possibly due to his interest in photography as an art form. His styles of painting varied considerably, following those of his peers, Millet and Courbet, as well his contemporary, Degas. He painted domestic scenes, often depicting his relatives. He is best known for his paintings of urban Paris. 
In 1881, Caillebotte bought a house in Petit-Gennevilliers, on the banks of the Seine near Argenteuil, moving there permanently in 1888. 
He is buried in  Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Visit his house and museum.

Female Impressionist Painters: Les Trois Grandes Dames (The Three Great Ladies)

Les trois grandes dames (the three great ladies) was the collective name given by Gustave Geffroy to the three great female Impressionist painters.

Mary Stevenson Cassatt

Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 184-June 14, 1926). Born in Pennysylvania, Mary Cassat lived mostly in France. Her works, particularly pastels, concentrated on women – mothers and children and women’s private lives. 
She was invited to exhibit with the Impressionists in 1877 by Degas, who became her lifelong friend. One critic later wrote: ‘M. Degas and Mlle. Cassatt are…the only artists who distinguish themselves…and who offer some attraction and some excuse in the pretentious show of window dressing and infantile daubing.’ Faint praise indeed. 
She is buried in Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise, Hauts-de-France.

Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot

Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot (January 14, 1841-March 2, 1895). The great niece of Rococo artist Jean-François Fragonard, she learnt to draw by the common practice of copying pictures at the Louvre. In 1861 she met Camille Corot and took up plein air painting.
She met Edouard Manet in 1868, and married his brother Eugene Manet in 1874. That same year she showed her work at the ‘rejected’ Impressionist exhibition of 1874, the first of many such exhibitions.
She is buried in Passy cemetery, Paris. 

Marie Bracquemond

Marie Bracquemond (December 1, 1840 -January 17, 1916). Marie Bracquemond learnt from Ingres (1780-1867), and Gauguin (1848–1903). She married the printmaker Felix Bracquemond who helped popularize Japanese art in France. She produced at least 157 original works but only 31 have been located in existing collections.
She is buried in the cemetery at Bruyères, Saint Omer.

Post-Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist Painters

Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat’s most renowned masterpiece, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, marked the beginning of this movement when the painting made its first appearance at an exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants (Salon des Indépendants) in Paris.
There are many overlaps between the two movements so I have put both these kinds of Impressionist Painters here.
Here’s a good article explaining some of the differences between Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism.

Georges Seurat

Georges Seurat (December 2, 1859-March 29, 1891) is known as the main founder of Post-Impressionist painting and the creator of pointillism. His large-scale work (3.0m; 10ft wide) A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–1886) was a revelation, initiating the new Neo-Impressionist movement. It’s one of the icons of late 19th-century painting and took Seurat two years to complete. The painting was the inspiration for James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s  musical Sunday in the Park with George.  
Seurat died in Paris in his parents’ home at the age of 31 of a disease which has never been fully identified.  His son died two weeks later from the same disease.
He is buried in  Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh (March 30, 1853-July 29, 1890). One of the best known, and most influential Post-Impressionist painters, van Gogh led a tortured life. From a middle-class family, he had a variety of work until taking to painting in 1881. His first subjects were mainly still lifes and peasant labourers. He moved to Paris  in 1886, meeting Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin. In 1888 he moved to Arles where his style changed and he painted local olive groves, wheat fields and sunflowers.
Gauguin joined him but the friendship ended in a furious confrontation with a razor when van Gogh cut off his left ear. Having suffered most of his life from psychotic episodes, he spent time in mental hospitals. On July 27, 1890 he shot himself in the chest with a revolver and died 2 days later.
The artist who influenced so many painters produced around 2,100 works, including 860 oil paintings, many in the last two years of his life. But during his lifetime, only one of his paintings, The Red Vineyard was sold. 
He is buried in Auvers-sur-Oise cemetery in Paris.

Read about the life of van Gogh in Paris where he lived under the rooftops with his brother.

Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne (19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was born and lived most of his life in Aix-en-Provence. He refused to become a banker, as his father had wanted, took evening classes and in 1861 left Aix for Paris. He was refused entry into the École des Beaux-Arts but became friends with Camille Pissarro, and later with Claude Monet, Renoir and Sisley. He was not universally popular; Manet called the shy and socially gauche man ‘a mason who paints with a trowel’.
He went through various different styles of painting, later rejecting Impressionism. His emphasis on geometric shapes had a profound influence on later artists like Picasso and the new art of Cubism.
Despite Cezanne turning his back on the Impressionists and following his own particular style, which was particularly hated in Aix, his paintings became more sought after during his lifetime, though not approaching the prices paid for paintings by Manet, Monet or Renoir.
He is buried in Saint-Pierre Cemetery, Aix.
Visit the Atelier de Cezanne

Maximilien Luce

Maximilien Luce (March 13, 1858-February 6, 1941) was known for his paintings, his graphic art, and his anarchist actions. He trained as a wood-engraver from the age of 14. He then went on to painting, firstly as an Impressionist, then from 1884 as a Pointillist, influenced by Seurat, before going back to Impressionism.
One critic, from the New York Times, wrote that this Pointillist period was the height of Luce’s career. He described the 1895 painting On the Bank of the Seine at Poissy as ‘a lyrical celebration of nature.’
Luce took many different subjects in his works, mostly landscapes, but also portraits, still lifes, domestic scenes and images of working men like rolling mill operators.
He is buried in Rolleboise, Yvelines, Ile-de-France.

Maurice Denis

Maurice Denis (November 25, 1870-November 13, 1943). An important figure in the period when Impressionism gave way to modern art, Denis is associated with Les Nabis, Symbolism and later Neo-classicism. His theories contributed to the foundations of Cubism, Fauvism and Abstract art. 
Religion was his other passion. In 1885 he recorded in his personal journal how much he admired the colours, candle light and incense of the ceremonies at his local church. After World War I he founded the Ateliers d’Art Sacré (Workshops of Sacred Art). 
In 1890 he and other artists like Bonnard, Vuillard and Paul Ranson formed a group they called the Nabis, taken from the Hebrew word Nabi, which means prophet. 
He decorated a number of churches and was also commissioned to decorate important civic buildings in the 1920s and 30s.
Maurice Denis house and museum in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris

Pierre Bonnard

Pierre Bonnard (October 3, 1867-January 23, 1947) was a founding member of the Post-Impressionist group of the avant-garde painters called Les Nabis. Influenced by Paul Gauguin and the prints of Japanese artists like Hokusai, Bonnard was known for his decorative paintings and bold use of colour. As such he was a leading figure in the move from Impressionism to Modernism. 
During World War I, Bonnard concentrated on nudes and portraits, and large compositions. He became part of the French art establishment and in 1918 he was selected, along with Renoir, as an honorary President of the Association of Young French Artists
He is buried in the Cimetière des Anges (Le Cannet, Alpes-Maritimes), beside his wife, Marthe.

More about Normandy and Impressionist Painters

Normandy Impressionist Festival 2024
Normandy and Impressionism – A general overall look at the great Impressionist art movement and what to see in Normandy
Normandy Travel Guide – What to see and Do
Getting to Normandy

Regions of France

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