It may be dark and cold outside, but there are still plenty of things going on in France over the winter months.
There's the Christmas Markets of course - especially in north-east France where German influences make Christmas a big deal - but there are also lots of French festivals from November to February.
Strasbourg Christmas Market
You know Christmas is coming when Strasbourg gets all festive. The north-eastern French city has hosted Christmas markets since around 1570, and has become pretty good at them down the centuries – it’s the reason the city brands itself the ‘Christmas capital of France’. This year’s celebrations kick off on November 26th and run to December 24th.
As usual, hundreds of chalets host local artisans selling Christmas gift ideas on the Grande Île, while the streets will be verily festooneth – festooneth, we tell you – with illuminations celebrating a very Alsatian Christmas. For more information, click here.
Colmar Christmas Festival
Not to be outdone by its big-city neighbour, Colmar, less than an hour down the A35 from Strasbourg, has a Christmas market that’s just as perfectly formed – and features every single one of those Alsace-Lorraine festive traditions. The festive celebrations run from November 25th to December 29th this year.
Other Christmas Markets
North-east France might have cornered the market in the big, famous Christmas markets, but actually most French towns have them.
Most towns have some sort of seasonal celebration in the lead-up to the annual celebration itself, even if it just lasts a couple of days. These smaller events are often more relaxed affairs than the big-city events.
Local craftsmen and shops take stalls and you can also try local food specialties — such as Toulouse sausage and aligot in the south-west, hot spiced cider in Brittany, or the ‘12 desserts of Christmas’ in Provence. Keep an eye on local press and advertising hoardings for information.
Rennes Trans Musicales
The annual five-day festival in Rennes, Brittany, has developed a reputation for finding ‘the next big thing’.
Festival organisers tend to book up-and-coming artists and they seem to be pretty good at talent-spotting, so if you want to get ahead of the curve, head to Rennes (or just look up the list of performers). This year’s event runs from Wednesday, December 3rd, through to Sunday, December 7th. Details, right here.
Fête des Lumières
Between Friday, December 5th, and Monday, December 8th, visitors to the south-eastern city of Lyon are invited to enjoy enchanting walks in an ever-changing sea of light and sound — including large projections over the city’s most beautiful monuments. You’ll find displays over the facades of major landmarks and scattered around the city as you walk (perhaps with a vin chaud in hand).
Habits de Lumière
A variation on the Lyon festival of lights theme, but no less enjoyable for it — with the added advantage that this one’s in Épernay, capital of the champagne region.
From December 12th to 14th, the town lights up with a fireworks display, a large street parade on the Avenue de Champagne, exhibitions, musical entertainment, cellar tours and a shows for young and old. The Champagne art of living is celebrated with cooking demonstrations by top chefs, wine workshops, and tastings of local products, including the famous fizz, as well as sweet treats and delicious cheeses. More details here.
Festival des Lanternes
After two years in Gaillac and another in Montauban, this year, the Festival des Lanternes is at Château de Castel Novel, Varetz, on the outskirts of Brive, from December 12th through to February 15th, 2026.
The festival’s website promises “a new immersion in a universe of sparkling lights and monumental installations. Each evening will be an opportunity to wander through a timeless setting, where imagination and poetry meet”. More details here.
Le Salon du Cheval de Paris
Love horses? You’ll love Paris in December. Particularly the Portes de Versailles, where the Salon du Cheval takes place between December 12th and December 14th. For more information, and to get tickets, which are on sale already, click here.
New Year’s Eve
All is rarely quiet on New Year’s Eve in France. From the big celebration on Paris’ Champs-Elysées, in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe, to countdown events where you live, the country is prepped to party like it’s coming up to 2026 on December 31st.
January 2025
La Grande Odyssée Savoie
This isn’t actually a festival in the traditional sense – rather, it’s one of the longest and most difficult dog sled races in the world. From January 10th to 22nd, the world’s best mushers and their dogs travel nearly 750 kilometres in the French Alpine areas of Savoie and Haute-Savoie.
Some 100,000 spectators are expected to brave the cold to watch January’s race — think of it as a snow-scaped sled-based Tour de Savoie — and the numerous host towns are ready for them, which gives it enough of a ‘touring festival’ vibe to make this list. Plenty of entertainment has been lined up, with walks and snowshoe hikes, mulled wine, giant tartiflettes, campfires, film screenings, themed exhibitions, children’s introduction to sled driving, igloo-buildings, and hunters’ workshops. Details here.
Fête de la truffe
The Périgord Noir truffle is one of French gastronomy’s great delicacies, and it’s only right that it’s properly celebrated.
The Dordogne town of Sarlat is the place to be in mid-January (the 17th and 18th, to be precise) for this festival celebrating the heritage and uses of the mighty truffle. Yes, there are tastings. Find out more, here.
Premiers Plans
The big, shiny film festival at Cannes may be a few months away yet, but if you’re interested in spotting up-and-coming European movie talent, Angers in January is the place to be as young filmmakers unveil their cinematographic works to a passionate and enthusiastic audience. The 2026 Premiers Plans event runs from January 17th to 25th.
Saint-Vincent Tournante
If you can’t celebrate the patron saint of winegrowers in France, where can you celebrate him? This annually moveable two-day celebration in deepest Burgundy, which will take place on January 24th and 25th in 2026, is to thank the saint for the last harvest and ask his protection for the next one. One of the oldest festivals on the calendar, it has its roots in the Middle Ages. Details here.
International Fantasy Film Festival
Fantasy fans assemble! The 33nd annual Festival International du Film Fantastique in Gérardmer, north-east France, runs from January 27th to February 1st. No news yet on what’s on – but details, as they come out, will be available here.
Angoulême comic book festival
France has one of the largest markets for bande-dessinée (comic books or graphic novels) in the world, and the south-west town of Angoulême is where this is celebrated. People from all over the world will head to the three-day festival celebrating all aspects of the comic book world – which runs from January 29th to February 1st.
The town is very proud of its link to this highly-regarded art-form, as you will notice if you take a look at the railway station, or the street signs (which are written like cartoon speech bubbles). More information here.
February
Nice Carnival
If you’ve got the winter blues by February, consider a trip to the south-east coast where two weeks of festivities from February 11th to March 1st bring the Mediterranean city of Nice to life and mark the end of the winter hiatus.
There are Carnival Parades (Corsi) day and night plus the elegant Flower Parades. Lots of floats decorated and presented under the season’s theme (2026’s is Long Live the Queen!) parade to the rhythm of street art troupes and musical groups from all kinds of backgrounds (from all over the world), all in a colourful, festive, family atmosphere.
If you want to keep up to date with French politics, there are also usually some extremely unflattering depictions on floats of the current least popular politicians.
Menton lemon festival
Not to be outdone by its larger near-neighbour, the resort of Menton — a little further east along the Mediterranean coast from Nice — tempts more than 200,000 visitors every year for a spectacular 15-day celebration of all things citrus.
Yep, that’s right. There are carnival floats made out of lemons, the town is decorated in lemons and there’s every variety of lemon-themed food and drink that you could possibly imagine. The festivities run from February 14th to March 1st, 2026. For details, click here.
Salon International de l’Agriculture
2026 looks certain to be a big year in French politics — not least because it’s municipal election time. And the big annual agricultural show, from February 21st to March 1st, is for historic reasons a must-visit for politicians of all stripes, and especially the incumbent President.
But it’s not just for presidents and aspiring presidents. The show attracts some 600,000 visitors a year, and showcases the farming prowess of France. Details here.
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