What's on in Nantes, France through the year

Quiet — travelers describe it as quiet, Le Voyage en hiver

• Festival

  La Folle Journee

  25 Jan – 2 Feb · usuallyMusic festivalBook early

  Five days of short classical concerts stacked from morning to midnight in the Cite des Congres, cheap and deliberately unstuffy. It is the one reason to be here in January and the halls sell out. Source ↗

Still on: Le Voyage en hiver (28 Nov – 3 Jan (usually))

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

• Nature

  Camellias at the Jardin des Plantes

  15 Feb – 25 Mar · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  The garden next to the station holds one of France's largest camellia collections, around six hundred varieties, usually at its best in the first half of March after a mild winter. Source ↗

Still on: La Folle Journee (25 Jan – 2 Feb (usually))

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

• Festival

  Carnaval de Nantes

  20 Mar – 20 Apr · usuallyCarnivalCrowded

  Giant floats built by volunteers over the winter parade through the city centre from Place Foch on a spring Sunday afternoon, with a separate night parade a couple of weeks later. Source ↗

Still on: Camellias at the Jardin des Plantes (15 Feb – 25 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Carnaval de Nantes, Spring holidays in France

• Festival

  Marathon de Nantes

  15–30 Apr · usuallySporting event

  A late-April running weekend: a 10 km night race from the Machines de l'Ile on the Saturday, then the marathon and half on Sunday, with road closures along the Loire. Source ↗

Still on: Carnaval de Nantes (20 Mar – 20 Apr (usually))

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 — Hellfest weekend, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Hellfest weekend

  17–22 Jun · usuallyMusic festivalCrowdedBook early

  The metal festival is at Clisson, forty minutes south, but the rooms it fills are in Nantes and the trains out are standing room. Book anywhere in the city early for the third weekend of June. Source ↗

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

Peak crowds — Bastille Day (14 juillet), Summer holidays in France

• Festival

  Le Voyage a Nantes

  4 Jul – 6 SepSummer season opens

  A green line painted on the pavement links a couple of dozen commissioned works across the city for the summer, most of them free and outdoors. The art changes every year; the line does not. 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 ↗

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

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Le Voyage a Nantes (4 Jul – 6 Sep)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Muscadet harvest

  1 Sep – 10 Oct · usually

  The vineyards start where the tram ends, and picking runs through September in the villages around Clisson and Vallet. Growers pour in the cellar rather than the tasting room while it lasts.

Still on: Le Voyage a Nantes (4 Jul – 6 Sep)

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

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Muscadet harvest (1 Sep – 10 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Le Voyage en hiver, All Saints (autumn) holidays in France

• Festival

  Le Voyage en hiver

  28 Nov – 3 Jan · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowded

  The summer art trail gets a winter version: light works through the centre, a market on the Place Royale and the machines on the island running in the dark. The wet cold here is the real one. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Le Voyage en hiver, Christmas holidays in France

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Le Voyage en hiver (28 Nov – 3 Jan (usually))