What's on in Avignon, France through the year

Peak crowds — Cheval Passion, Christmas holidays in France

• Festival

  Cheval Passion

  14–18 Jan · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Five days of horses at the Parc des Expositions in the middle of January, and the one week of the winter when the hotels inside the walls sell out. Source ↗

Still on: The mistral (1 Dec – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Winter (February) holidays in France, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Les Hivernales dance festival

  3–21 Feb · usuallyArts festival

  Three weeks of contemporary dance across the town in February, on a scale you can still book into a week ahead. The opposite of July in every respect. Source ↗

Still on: The mistral (1 Dec – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Winter (February) holidays in France, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Easter weekend

  4–6 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedClosures

  Easter Monday is a public holiday and the long weekend is spring's first big getaway: motorways and TGVs fill, towns that draw holidaymakers get busy and some rooms are priced up, and many shops close on the Monday. Source ↗

Still on: The mistral (1 Dec – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Easter weekend, Spring holidays in France

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Easter weekend (4–6 Apr), The mistral (1 Dec – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — May holidays and ponts, Feria de Pentecote in Nimes

• Holiday

  May holidays and ponts

  1–25 MayNational holidayCrowdedBook earlyClosures

  1 May, 8 May, Ascension Thursday and Whit Monday are public holidays, and the French bridge the gaps with a day off, the pont. Expect four-day weekends of busy trains, jammed roads and full rooms in towns that draw visitors, and near-total closures on 1 May. Source ↗

• Festival

  Feria de Pentecote in Nimes

  10 May – 15 Jun · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Over the Pentecost weekend Nimes, 30 minutes away by train, fills with bodegas, brass bands, bull runs in the streets and corridas in the Roman arena. Loud, late and not for everyone. Source ↗

Busy — Feria de Pentecote in Nimes, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Lavender in bloom

  15 Jun – 20 Jul · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  The lavender fields of the Luberon, Senanque Abbey and the Sault plateau flower from late June, an hour's drive away. Harvest starts in mid-July and the colour goes quickly after that.

Still on: May holidays and ponts (1–25 May), Feria de Pentecote in Nimes (10 May – 15 Jun (usually))

Peak crowds — Festival d'Avignon and the Off, Bastille Day (14 juillet)

• Hazard

  Heatwave weeks

  1 Jul – 25 Aug · usuallyExtreme heat

  Avignon sits in one of the hottest corners of France and the festival plays straight through it: the stone courtyards hold the day until well past midnight. Meteo-France runs the warnings. Source ↗

• Festival

  Festival d'Avignon and the Off

  4–26 Jul · usuallyArts festivalCrowdedBook early

  For three weeks the official programme plays in the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des Papes while well over a thousand Off shows fill every hall, chapel and garage in the walls. Rooms go by spring. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Bastille Day (14 juillet)

  13–14 JulNational holidayCrowdedClosures

  14 July is the national holiday: towns hold fireworks on the evening of the 13th or 14th, often with a firemen's ball, a parade or a concert, and banks, offices and many shops close for the day. Source ↗

Still on: Lavender in bloom (15 Jun – 20 Jul (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in France, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Heatwave weeks (1 Jul – 25 Aug (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

• Nature

  Chateauneuf-du-Pape grape harvest

  1 Sep – 5 Oct · usually

  The harvest opens with the Ban des Vendanges on the first Friday of September, when the wine brotherhood in medieval dress proclaims it in the village, 20 minutes north. Cellars are busy but still open for tastings. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Autumn flash floods

  10 Sep – 30 Nov · usuallyFlood season

  Mediterranean downpours can drop months of rain in a few hours on the Vaucluse and Gard in autumn. Rivers rise fast, roads flood and trains stop; follow Meteo-France orange and red warnings. Source ↗

Busy — All Saints (autumn) holidays in France, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Chateauneuf-du-Pape grape harvest (1 Sep – 5 Oct (usually)), Autumn flash floods (10 Sep – 30 Nov (usually))

Quiet — travelers describe it as quiet, Christmas market

• Festival

  Christmas market

  20 Nov – 31 Dec · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowded

  Chalets on the Place de l'Horloge and down the Rue de la Republique from late November, with the provencal santon stalls beside them. December is otherwise the quietest month here. Source ↗

Still on: Autumn flash floods (10 Sep – 30 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Christmas market, Christmas holidays in France

• Season

  The mistral

  1 Dec – 30 Apr · usuallyWind seasonRisk

  The Rhone valley funnels the wind straight past the ramparts, hardest from December to April. It takes the cloud with it, and the terraces on the Place de l'Horloge with it too. Source ↗

Still on: Christmas market (20 Nov – 31 Dec (usually))