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Festivals in Lyon and the Rhône Valley

Lyon, Rhone, Loire and Ardeche have a full calendar of festivals throughout the year. Here you will find information and a description of the events with links to their websites where available.

The towns and villages in Lyon and the Rhône Valley have a full calendar of events throughout the year. Below find information on major events taking place every year, with links to their websites where available.

To find information on events in the area see the AngloINFO What's On Guide
See The AngloFILE for Tourist Offices & Information

Major Annual Events Throughout the Region

Journées Grame and Musiques en Scène

The Grame Days Electronic Music Festival (Journées Grame and Musiques en Scène) is a contemporary and electronic music festival based on the creation of music. The event features international performers presenting a series of concerts, installations and music using digital technologies. Events are held all over the city during March. The event is biennial, with Journées Grame taking place on odd-numbered years and Musiques en Scène taking place on even-numbered years.

Website

Original Festival

Every April Lyon hosts the Original Festival, a hip-hop festival attracting renowned rappers from around the world. Events take place at venues across the city and include club nights, shows, break dancing and rap battles.

Website (in French)

Lyon Gay Pride

Every year the Lyon gay pride march and carnival is held in the streets of Lyon in June. Fireworks displays and a giant party take place at the end of the march.

Website (in French)

Fête de la Musique

Every year on 21 June, France celebrates music in all its forms with the country-wide Fête de la Musique. In Lyon, hundreds of concerts take place throughout the city with music of all genres featuring local groups as well as international artists.

Website (in French)

Y Salsa Festival

Cuban and South American salsa festival featuring a series of concerts, demonstrations and dance lessons over a three-day period. All the events take place in the 9th district of Lyon, on the Ile Barbe.

Website (in French)

Les Montgolfières d'Annonay

Annual hot-air balloon festival in June bringing together balloon enthusiasts from around the world to the town of Annonay in the Ardèche. The event commemorates the first-ever flight on a man-made craft, invented by the Montgolfier brothers in the late 18th century. The event is a reconstruction of the first flight, with pilots and locals wearing period costume. It is followed by a flight with dozens of hot-air balloonists from around Europe.

Website (in French)

Jazz à Vienne

Major musical event taking place over a two-week period in June and July in Vienne, south of Lyon. The festival features top international performers from around the world and takes place in the Roman Amphitheatre and other nearby locations. In the past the festival has included Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Stan Getz and Lionel Hampton.

Website (in French)

Castagnades d'automne

The Castagnades d'automne is a chestnut festival organised in October that pays tribute to the chestnuts of the Ardèche. Highlights of the event include chestnut roasts, dancing and traditional music. Local producers present their produce and hikes take place from village to village in the Monts d'Ardèche Regional Park. Events take place in Privas, Désaignes, St Pierreville, Prades, Joyeuse and St Andéol de Vals.

Website (in French)

Grand Lyon Film Festival

An international film festival held at various locations all over Lyon and Greater Lyon in October which celebrates all types of films, from classic film noir to modern classics. As well as film screenings, there are conferences, concerts and exhibitions. The festival attracts top international directors and actors.

Website (in French)

A number of other film festivals take place in the region including the Short Film Festival and the Latin American and Spanish Film Festival in Villeurbanne, the Festival Ciné o’clock which celebrates British and Irish cinema and the Crime Film Festival, Quai Du Polar.

Les Musicades

An annual chamber music festival held in September in Lyon. A series of concerts take place across the city and rehearsals are open to the public at the Conservatoire National.

Website (in French)

Fêtes des Lumières

The Festival of Lights (Fêtes des Lumières) is a spectacular festival taking place each year on 8 December. The festival dates back to 1643, following a plague epidemic. The town's municipal leaders promised to pay tribute to the Virgin Mary if Lyon was spared. In 1852 a statue of the Virgin was to be inaugurated on the Fourvière Hill. A violent storm had threatened to postpone the inauguration once again, but the storm ended and inhabitants took to the streets with their lanterns to celebrate. Since this date, the event has became a popular festival, repeated annually. Throughout Lyon, buildings are illuminated with candles and locals parade in the streets with lanterns. The event has now become a four-day festival with many other activities planned around the procession including a light show on Place des Terreaux. During the festival, the Basilique de Fourvière is lit with multi-coloured lights and is one of the focal points of the event.