\n It\u2019s cold and a bit dank outside right now, but Spring really isn\u2019t that far away, so here\u2019s what\u2019s coming up in France as the days get longer, the sky bluer, and the sun warmer.\n <\/p>\n
We know what you\u2019re thinking. You\u2019re thinking it might be too early to start planning what to do in Spring in France, and which festivals and events to consider going to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You may, then, want to look over our Winter festival guide<\/a>, which runs all the way through to the end of January.<\/p>\n And, we also know, Spring \u2014 meteorologically and astronomically at least \u2014 doesn\u2019t officially begin until March. But we can have some lovely days in France in February, and there\u2019s always something going on somewhere.<\/p>\n So, here\u2019s our pick of festivals and events in France in February, March and April.<\/p>\n February<\/b><\/p>\n Nice Carnival \u2014 February 11th to March 1st<\/b><\/p>\n If you’re sick of the winter blues by February, consider a trip to the south-east coast where weeks of festivities bring the Mediterranean city of Nice to life and mark the end of the winter hiatus.<\/p>\n There are Carnival Parades (Corsi) day and night plus the elegant Flower Parades. Lots of floats, decorated and presented under this season\u2019s Long Live the Queen theme, parade to the rhythm of street art troupes and musical groups from\u00a0 all over the world, all in a colourful, festive, family atmosphere.<\/p>\n If you want to keep up to date with French politics, there are also usually some extremely unflattering models of politicians on floats. For more information, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n F\u00eate du Citron \u2014 February 14th to March 1st<\/b><\/p>\n Not to be outdone by its larger near-neighbour, the resort of Menton tempts more than 200,000 visitors every year for a spectacular 15-day celebration of all things citrus.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yep, that’s right. There are carnival floats made out of lemons, the town is decorated in lemons \u2014 and other agrumes \u2014 and there\u2019s every variety of citrus-themed food and drink that you could possibly imagine.\u00a0<\/p>\n In fact, why not go to both festivals if you\u2019re in the region? Click here for more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Le Salon International de l’Agriculture \u2014 February 21st to March 1st<\/b><\/p>\n One of the world\u2019s largest agriculture fairs, the Salon de l\u2019Agriculture, at Paris\u2019s Porte de Versailles, attracts some 600,000 visitors over nine days and is a must-visit event on the senior French politicians\u2019 calendar.<\/p>\n The Lumpy Skin disease outbreak<\/a> among cattle may mean that livestock numbers at the event may be limited, or even off the books, this year, but organisers have said that there\u2019s no danger that the event will be cancelled. Find out more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Carnaval V\u00e9nitien d\u2019Annecy \u2014 February 27th to March 1st<\/b><\/p>\n For three days, hundreds of glitteringly masked and exquisitely dressed mannequins \u2013 many inspired by Commedia dell\u2019arte characters \u2013 parade and pose in the streets of the old town of Annecy, on the shores of the lake, on the P\u00e2quier lawn, in the Jardins de l’Europe or along the canals, in a silent atmosphere required by the rules. More details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n March<\/b><\/p>\n Sarlat Fest\u2019Oie \u2014 March 7th and 8th<\/b><\/p>\n Fois gras is a controversial delicacy in France due to concerns about cruelty in the production method. It has been outlawed altogether in several countries, and banned as a course in Christmas meals in some schools, while campaigns are ongoing to take it off menus at official town hall functions across France.<\/p>\n Sarlat, the capital of the P\u00e9rigord Noir and the historic seat of the goose-liver product, however, is proud of its historic contribution to gastronomy and hosts an annual two-day fair to celebrate it. Find out more, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Foire Internationale aux Fromages et aux Vins \u2014 March 27th to 30th\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n The Foire Internationale aux Fromages et aux Vins in Coulommiers, Seine-et-Marne, features the expected array of food and drink, as well as producer competitions. Traditionally, there\u2019s also a guess the cow\u2019s weight competition that is open to the public, but welfare concerns may take that off the cards this year. More details, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo \u2014 March 11th to April 19th<\/b><\/p>\n Classical concerts abound in several venues in Monaco, as well as unusual locations such as the Oceanographic Museum and the occasional parking lot. Created at the behest of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace, the festival quickly gained prestige attracts a distinguished lineup of performers. Further details are available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n April<\/b><\/p>\n Quais du Polar \u2014 April 3rd to April 5th<\/b><\/p>\n Lovers of literary murder, assemble! Dozens of internationally known crime writers, including Catherine Ryan Howard, Peter James, David Peace, and Sarai Walker, descend on Lyon for the three-day literary festival. Details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Festival de cerfs-volants et du vent \u2014 April 4th to April 6th<\/b><\/p>\n Ch\u00e2telaillon-Plage, in the south-west d\u00e9partement of Charente-Maritimes, is a windswept delight of a beach that every year hosts the Festival international du cerf-volant et du vent (kite and wind festival) for three days in April. There are big kites, little kites, competition kites, fighting kites. Plus, kite surfing and kite-building workshops. Basically, kites plus wind plus sand plus sea equals a whole lotta fun. More information here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Paris-Roubaix Challenge \u2014 April 11th<\/b><\/p>\n The Paris-Roubaix cycle race, aka The Hell of the North, sees some of the world\u2019s best racers take on the partially cobbled road race challenge. That\u2019s on Sunday, April 12th this year. A day earlier, the Paris-Roubaix challenge offers amateur riders aged 18 and over the chance to test their mettle on the same route.\u00a0<\/p>\n The good news is that two other routes are also available: a circuit of around 70km around Roubaix, including several cobbled sections, and another route of around 140km including the famous cobbles of the Carrefour de l’Arbre crossroads and the Trou\u00e9e d’Arenberg trench. On second thoughts, that\u2019s still not necessarily good news\u2026<\/p>\n Details, for masochistic road racers out there, are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Printemps de Bourges – April 14th – April 19th<\/b><\/p>\n You know summer\u2019s well and truly on the way when the outdoor music festivals start popping up on the agenda.<\/p>\n Enter the 50th anniversary edition of the annual, eclectic Printemps de Bourges in the central French town of Bourges, which this year features Vanessa Paradis, Gims, Superbus, Feu! Chatterton, and Linh \u2014 among others. The full line-up is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s cold and a bit dank outside right now, but Spring really isn\u2019t that far away, so here\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-664712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115814317866647102","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}