Paris isn’t just about croissants and the Eiffel Tower. Though you should absolutely have your fair share of viennoiseries and see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night from the Champ de Mars, there’s so much more to experience! It’s a city that knows how to celebrate all year long with dozens of different events that really bring people together.
After living in Paris for two years, I’ve gotten to know pretty well the festivals that take place all throughout the city. From the harvest wine festival in the fall, to the Christmas markets in the winter, to a country wide music festival in the streets on the summer solstice, there’s so many amazing opportunities to take part in France’s vibrant culture and live like a local!
In this blog, I’m going to share with you my favorite festivals that happen every year in Paris, give you tips on how to best experience them, and even share some of my runner ups!
At a glance:
My favorite festivals :
La Fête des Vendanges : the second weekend of October
Les Marchés de Noël : from November into January
Soirée Electro at Château de Versailles : mid-May
Roland Garros : end of May into Early June
La Fête de la Musique : June 21st
La Fête Nationale, aka Bastille Day : July 14th
The runner-ups but still noteworthy :
Paris Fashion Week: four times throughout the year
Le Cinema en Plein Air : July and August
My Favorite Festivals
La Fête des Vendanges
Paris’ Harvest Festival
When? Second weekend of October
La Fête des Vendanges is an annual festival held in Montmartre, Paris’ artist district, that celebrates the neighborhood’s historic vineyard that has been in Montmartre since the 7th century, as well as the production of it’s new vintage of wine.
Fun fact: In English, “vendange” literally translates to the harvest of grapes!
This is the first festival I discovered when I moved to Paris, and I have to say it’s tied at my Top 2 with la Fête de la Musique!
The festival takes place throughout the streets of Montmartre with wine makers and chateaux from all throughout France coming to display their production of wine. You can typically purchase a glass for 1 euro, and then reuse it as you taste wine from other vendors. A glass of wine is normally around 5 euros!
Not only will you be able to taste some of France’s best wine, you’ll also be able to savor French cheese throughout, along with charcuterie, raclette sandwiches, tartiflette, and even oysters!
La Fête des Vendanges typically takes place Wednesday-Sunday during the second weekend of October, and runs all day long, so you will have plenty of time to take it all in. Keep in mind that this festival draws a huge crowd so it will definitely be packed walking through the streets!
My first year, I went on a sunny Friday afternoon before I worked as an au pair in the evening, and loved spending the afternoon tasting local wines while wandering through the streets with my friends. My second year, I went on the Friday or Saturday night, and the vibe was completely different ! It was packed, almost too difficult to move between vendors, but at the same time, the energy was great it was so much fun meeting and talking with the people around us.
Tip: If you want a more relaxed experience, visit La Fête des Vendanges during the day!
Les Marchés de Noël
Paris’ Christmas Markets
When? End of November until beginning of January
Every year, Paris turns into the ultimate Christmas city as it’s taken over by a multitude of Christmas markets and Christmas cheer. These markets follow the same theme of the classic Christmas markets found in the Alsace region, Germany and the Czech Republic, yet with a French twist.
The most popular Christmas market would have to be at Jardin des Tuileries, followed by the one at La Défense and La Villette. Yet, there are many others such as the Christmas Village in Saint Germain-des-Près, the Christmas market at Notre Dame and in Abbesse in Montmartre, as well as a Japanese Christmas market in the 2nd arrondissement. The Christmas market at La Défense is actually the biggest in the Paris region, and the theme changes from year to year!
At most of the large Christmas markets, such as the one at Jardin des Tuileries, you’ll find lots of French specialities like tartiflette, raclette, mulled wine (or vin chaud), and hot chocolate. Yet you will also be able to experience typical Alsace and German Christmas market specialties such as bratwurst and pretzels. Last year at La Défense, the theme was Quebecois, so you were able to taste traditional French Canadian cuisine like poutine!
As your strolling through market and tasting all of the delicacies, you’ll be able to do some Christmas shopping with local artists displaying their creations! This is one of my favorite parts because I love to get ideas as I am walking through.
What shocked me my first time visiting the Marché de Noël at Jardin des Tuileries, located right near the Louvre, was that they also had lots of amusement park rides including a giant ferris wheel! The rides can run pricey, but my friend and I decided we had to do at least a few because why not!
For a run down of up-to-date information on this year’s Christmas markets, definitely check out Sortir à Paris as they usually put out a blog with all of the information you will need!
Soirée Electro at the Château de Versailles
When? typically mid-May
The Soirée Electro at the Château de Versailles is an electronic music festival that happens every year for one weekend during the month of May. I went during my first year living in Paris as an au pair and it still is one of my favorite nights!
This festival takes place on the backside of the Château de Versailles facing the beautiful gardens. What amazed me was the way they set up the light displays to bounce off of the château, and also the fact that the windows didn’t shatter from the music being so loud and the château being so old!
When I went in 2024, it was an insanely rainy day, but luckily by the time the festival started the rain held off. But, I did ruin my Dr. Marten boots, even though I wore them specifically for the rain! I just didn’t clean the mud off in a reasonable time afterwards, so some of the mud is encrusted in the material.
Despite the rain and the mud, this was seriously one of my favorite nights I’ve had here. I was briefly familiar with Bon Entendeur and Kavinsky, but Radio Cargo and Nathalie Duchene I didn’t know too well. Yet, the week leading up to the festival I listened to a lot of Bon Entendeur and Kavinsky so I at least was could sign along.
Seeing Kavinsky and Bon Entendeur in person ending up being a bucket list experience I didn’t know I had. They were such incredible performers, and since they are French artists everyone knew every word to every song. The energy was insane!
Even leaving the festival, everyone was singing the Marseillaise, which is France’s national anthem. This was the most French thing I could’ve experienced!
Tip: If you’re planning to go to the Soirée Electro, make sure you’re on top of getting tickets! When I went, I went with friends that had gone before and who knew that tickets sell out almost instantly. We got our tickets within the hour of them going on sale, and even waited a while in the queue online just to ensure that we didn’t miss out. This past year I wanted to go again, but waited too long and wasn’t able to get a ticket!
La Fête de la Musique
France’s Country-wide Music Festival
When? The summer solstice, June 21st
As mentioned earlier in this blog, La Fête de la Musique holds my Top 2 spot, tied with La Fête des Vendanges, as my favorite festivals in Paris! This country-wide music festival happens on the summer solstice every year, celebrating the longest day of the year with music throughout all of France.
From morning until late at night, restaurants and cafés open all of their doors and windows and set up a space for DJs to take over and fill the streets with music. You’ll be able to find any type of music you’re looking for! Typically there are Instagram accounts that announce where big DJs will be, along with specific music sets for different genres.
For my first Fête de la Musique, I had no clue what to expect, and tagged along with friends that had been before. We danced all through Rive Gauche near Notre Dame and the Latin Quarter. Eventually, we split off and I met up with friends along the quais of the Seine, as you can see in the picture above. The quais were absolutely crazy but it was such a good vibe.
This past year, my friends and I met up at Châtelet with the goal of meeting more friends along Canal Saint Martin. However, Châtelet was absolutely insane so it took forever to navigate out. We ended up finding lots of good DJs in the 2nd arrondissement, so we never made it to Canal Saint Martin. But that’s kinda the point! You just go with the flow and see where the music takes you.
For both years, I never had a plan to see certain DJs, but all I can recommend is to probably stay away from Châtelet just because it was so insanely crowded and hard to move!
Overall, I love this music festival because it’s so fun to see all of the restaurants and cafés dedicate their night to playing music for everyone in the streets, and because it’s so fun to hop from place to place. This one is a must-do!!
Roland Garros
The French Open
When? End of May into early June
When May comes around, the talk in Paris becomes centered around Roland Garros. Also known as the French Open, this is one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world, and the second in the series of four Grand Slam events in the year. Located in the 16th arrondissement at Stade Roland Garros, this event is a classic and must-see if you’re in Paris!
As far as I’m concerned, any French person that is into sports gets super into the Roland Garros. So naturally, when my first spring came around, I was easily convinced that I needed to go see it!
When I saw I could get tickets to the qualifying rounds with a friend for about 16€, I hopped on the opportunity. Tickets to the quarter finals and finals are quite expensive and hard to get a hold of, but for me I was just as happy seeing the qualifying events!
For my ticket, I had access to all of the games going on throughout the day, and even the ones on the large main court. I was able to see two games, a men’s match between Billy Harris from England and Valentin Vacherot from Monaco, and a women’s match between Coco Gauff from the US and a girl from France!
This was actually my first time seeing professional matches in person! The energy in the stadium even for the qualifying rounds was still electric and intense. My friend and I got super into the matches and we were on the edge of our seat while cheering for Vacherot while surrounded by English fans, and cheering for our fellow American CoCo while surrounded by French fans.
I was sad to leave early since I had to head back to pick up the kids from school, but next year I want to take a day off from work to really enjoy the whole day and all of the matches! I knew I enjoyed tennis, but I never realized how much fun seeing the matches in person can be.
If you’re in Paris during the time of Roland Garros, make sure you secure tickets because this is such a fun sporting event that you shouldn’t miss!
La Fête Nationale
Bastille Day
When? July 14th
On July 14th, France celebrates La Fête Nationale, also known by in English as Bastille Day. This holiday celebrates two major moments in France’s history : the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789 which was a major turning point in the French Revolution, and the Fête de la Fédération held one year later in 1790 celebrating unity of the nation and the new Republic.
Across the country, people take to the streets with pride to celebrate. In Paris, you can watch the traditional military parade along the Champs-Élysées in the morning, and later enjoy the grand fireworks show over the Champs de Mars by the Eiffel Tower once the sun sets.
Personally, I love celebrating La Fête Nationale because it reminds me a bit of the Fourth of July in the United States. Everyone is dressed in the nation’s colors, the energy is festive, and there’s a strong sense of pride in being part of France’s history and culture.
Tip: If you are planning to see the fireworks on the Champ de Mars, you will have to camp out there for a few hours before as thousands of people flock there to get the best view! Another spot to view them from is at Place de la Concorde, or if you have access to a rooftop.
For details on everything to know about the Bastille Day celebration, check out this website!
I actually don’t have any pictures from these past two years of La Fête Nationale, so next year I absolutely need to take photos!
The Runner-ups
Paris Fashion Week
When? Four events throughout the year
You might be wondering why I put Paris Fashion Week as a runner-up instead of one of my top events to see in Paris! Honestly, I don’t know too much about fashion so I’m not exactly the person to tell you which shows are the must-sees.
But! I do think that being in Paris for Paris Fashion Week is an experience that you shouldn’t miss out on.
Paris Fashion Week happens four times throughout the year : once for the men’s autumn/winter collection and once for women’s, as well as once for the men’s spring/summer wear and once for the women’s. Since each event has its’ own week dedicated, to me as someone who lives in Paris, I have the impression that it’s always Paris Fashion Week!
During my first few weeks living in Paris as an au pair, the women’s Spring/Summer Fashion Week happened to take place, so my new friends and I tried to catch a glimpse of what all the buzz is about. We went to the Hermès show, well, outside of it only to see the celebrities arriving. I didn’t end up seeing anyone that I knew was famous, but it was still cool to even be there outside of the show and see everyone walk in! Even though these were just spectators and not the actual models, their outfits were still impressive.
Even if you aren’t going to the shows themselves, Paris feels totally different during Fashion Week. The city becomes filled with celebrities, photographers, and models statement pieces. It really feels like the level of style in Paris goes up a hundredfold just overnight.
For tips of what shows to see during Fashion Week, I have always found the list of shows and locations on TikTok from influencers that have this event down to a science. Most shows are privatised and not open to the public, but you can still catch the arrivals to the show like I did!
Le Cinema en Plein Air
Movies in the Park
When? During the months of July and August
Le Cinema en Plein Air is a new discovery for me this past year. As it turns out, La Villette in the north of Paris has a summer movie festival where they display movies on a giant screen for free in their park just outside of their venue for everyone to come and enjoy the movie picnic style. For me it felt just like a drive in movie theater!
They typically had two showings a day from Thursday through Sunday, one for families at 6pm, and a second for older crowds at 9pm. I went to see Les Misérables, which was such a perfect movie to see in an outdoor showing in Paris since it takes place here but in the late 1800’s!
Fun fact: During the 2024 Paris Olympics, La Villette is where they had Club France and other country houses so that fans could come and watch the games with other people from their country!
I hope this blog on my top events and festivals throughout the year inspired your next trip to Paris! If I left out any of your favorites, feel free to leave a comment to add them in!
PS, if you’re looking for more things to see and do while you’re in Paris, be sure to check out my other Paris blogs with fully detailed itineraries!
Xx,
Carmela
Under The Sun 
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