FESTIVALS 2023 THE GUIDE
programme of lectures, workshops and art exhibitions to enjoy.
www.festival-avignon.com
Festival International Montpellier Danse June 20–July 4, 2023 You’ll see just about every form of contemporary dance you can think of at this amazing annual festival in Montpellier. Now on its 43rd edition, it stages shows at venues around the city.
www.montpellierdanse.com
The citrus sculptures at Menton’s Fête du Citron are a sight to behold
Mimos July 4–8, 2023 There’s no doubt the art of mime is an acquired taste. But if there’s one nation that leads the way – thanks in no small part to the world-famous artist Marcel Marceau – it’s got to be France. This summer, the Mimos festival takes place over five days in the streets, public gardens and concert halls of Périgueux. First staged in 1983, it covers all forms of mime, from corporeal mime and physical theatre to dance, circus acts and puppetry.
www.mimos.fr
FOOD AND DRINK FESTIVALS Fête du Cognac July 27–29, 2023
Held each July in the town that gave the famous brandy its name, the Cognac Festival proudly presents the latest vintage with plenty of tastings and merrymaking. It’s not all about the local tipple of choice, though. The seven bars of the Fête du Cognac also serve Charentais wines and pineau, the regional apéritif. There are also oysters and mussels from the Charentaise coast to scoff, as well as in-season melons, the best local meats and cheeses and the local cagouille snails. After you’ve dined you can dance the calories away at the various concerts staged around town. This year Bob
Sinclar, Juliette Armanet and Mattéo are doing gigs.
www.lafeteducognac.fr
The Champagne Tourist Route
June–October, 2023 To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Route Touristique du Champagne, a whole host of festivals, banquets, tastings, concerts, markets and events have been organised across the Champagne region. The route itself comprises driving circuits that wind through the vineyards and terraced hillsides of the Champagne terroirs, taking in various villages, châteaux and churches that pepper the region. The anniversary celebrations will culminate in the annual Champagne Day, which this year takes place on October 27. Santé!
www.tourisme-en-champagne.
co.uk/route-du-champagne
Fête des Vendanges de Montmartre October 11–15, 2023
While you might not associate urban Paris with winemaking, this quartier in the north of the capital has been hosting its Fête des Vendanges since the 1930s, often attracting hundreds of thousands of fans of the fermented grape. It’s all thanks to a tiny working vineyard in the shadow of Sacré-Cœur called the Clos
Montmartre, which yields around 1,500 bottles a year, most of it auctioned for charity during the festival. Many other wines from all over France and beyond are available for tasting too. www.fetedesvendanges
demontmartre.com
Fête du Citron February 17–March 3, 2024 Celebrating the Provence town of Menton’s position as a major lemon producer, this festival attracts around 200,000 visitors every year with its enormous, gravity- defying citrus-fruit sculptures, light shows, bands, dancing, and both nighttime and daytime carnival-style parades where some very juicy lemons (plus more than a few oranges) take centre stage.
www.fete-du-citron.com
La Fête Annuelle du Champignon d’Eguisheim October 28–29, 2023 This wonderful autumn celebration of all things fungus includes an exhibition of amazing mushrooms, mushroom-themed street shows, and a classic Alsatian mushroom market. The local restaurants jump on the bandwagon, too, offering up all sorts of mushroom- based dishes for visiting fungis (and girls) to enjoy.
www.tourisme-eguisheim-
rouffach.com
Fête du Piment October 28–29, 2023
Things get very spicy indeed in the Basque Country when the town of Espelette celebrates its most famous product – its luscious red peppers – during the Fête du Piment. As well as plenty of tasting opportunities, there are also street parades, traditional Basque dancing, concerts, awards, games of pelota… and, of course, lots of market stalls overloaded with the famous peppers.
www.espelette-paysbasque.com
Salon du Chocolat October 28–November 1, 2023 Cacao farmers, cacao importers, chocolatiers, wholesalers, retailers, chocolate chefs, chocolate sculptors, chocolate painters, a chocolate fashion show… you’ll find all of these and more at Paris’s annual chocolate bacchanal, the Salon du Chocolat. Held at the Paris Expo Porte du Versailles exhibition centre, it will immerse you in the smell, taste and sight of hundreds of exhibition stalls, all piled high with this most glorious of foodstuffs. There’s also a Lyon version of the festival, which will be staged at the city’s Centre de Congrès from November 10 to 12.
www.salon-du-chocolat.fr
Taste of Paris May 11–14. 2023
The Grand Palais Éphémère, in Paris’s Champ de Mars, is the setting for this four-day festival where punters can sample tasting menus at pop-up restaurants manned by some of Paris’s best chefs. “Whether Michelin-starred, trend setters or future young talents, Taste of Paris warmly welcomes today’s most sought-after chefs to bring you a gourmet experience to remember,” say the organisers. There’s a foodie market to browse too.
paris.tastefestivals.com FT
Jun/Jul 2023 FRANCE TODAY ❘ 129
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