What's on in Colmar, France through the year

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

Nothing new starts in January.

Peak crowds — Carnaval de Colmar, Winter (February) holidays in France

• Festival

  Carnaval de Colmar

  10 Feb – 20 Mar · usuallyCarnivalCrowded

  The Alsatian carnival season ends with a children's parade and the big afternoon cavalcade of floats and bands through the centre, a weekend that moves with the Lenten calendar. Free and very local. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Carnaval de Colmar, Winter (February) holidays in France

• Festival

  Festival de Paques

  28 Mar – 6 AprEaster & Holy Week

  Nine days of chamber music in the churches and the theatre in the run-up to Easter, and the one time in spring the town has a reason to be busy at night. Source ↗

Still on: Carnaval de Colmar (10 Feb – 20 Mar (usually))

Busy — Spring holidays in France, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Festival de Paques (28 Mar – 6 Apr)

Peak crowds — May holidays and ponts, Spring holidays in France

• 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 ↗

Busy — Fete de la Musique, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Fete de la Musique

  21 JunMusic festivalCrowded

  France's midsummer music night, with stages and amateur bands on the squares and street corners of the old town from early evening. Free, loud, and the one night the Petite Venise terraces stay full late. Source ↗

Still on: May holidays and ponts (1–25 May)

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, Bastille Day (14 juillet)

• Festival

  Festival International de Colmar

  5–14 JulMusic festivalBook early

  Twenty-odd classical concerts in the Eglise Saint-Matthieu, the municipal theatre and the Koifhus over ten days in early July, including free lunchtime recitals by young players. 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 ↗

• Festival

  Foire aux Vins d'Alsace

  31 Jul – 9 AugFood & drink festivalCrowdedBook early

  Ten days at the Parc Expo where the wine fair is the daytime half and stadium-sized concerts are the evening one. Rooms in the old town go with it, so book before the line-up is announced. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Foire aux Vins d'Alsace, Summer holidays in France

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Foire aux Vins d'Alsace (31 Jul – 9 Aug)

Busy — Colmar Jazz Festival, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Vendanges on the wine route

  1 Sep – 20 Oct · usuallyHarvest

  Picking runs through September and into October in the villages either side of town, and the late-harvest grapes hang on longest. Growers who normally pour at the door are out in the rows instead.

• Festival

  Colmar Jazz Festival

  21–26 SepMusic festivalCrowded

  A week of jazz in the second half of September, ticketed evenings at the municipal theatre alongside free concerts around town. It lands in harvest season, so the wine villages are busy the same weekends. 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: Vendanges on the wine route (1 Sep – 20 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Festival du livre de Colmar, Christmas markets

• Festival

  Festival du livre de Colmar

  21–22 NovArts festivalCrowded

  A free book festival at the Parc des Expositions on a late-November weekend, with a couple of hundred publishers and authors signing. It arrives the same weekend the Christmas markets open, so rooms tighten. Source ↗

• Festival

  Christmas markets

  23 Nov – 29 DecChristmas & New YearCrowded

  Six markets across the old town from the end of November, and the reason coaches queue on the ring road every December weekend. Go on a weekday morning or accept walking at the pace of the crowd. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Christmas markets, Christmas holidays in France

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Christmas markets (23 Nov – 29 Dec)