Sixty hot-air balloons over the Charente, Musicalarue in Luxey and a medieval fair in Crozant: our picks for the August 1-2 weekend in New Aquitaine.
On Saturday August 1st, New Aquitaine switches seasons. July's festivals bow out, while the Landes village fêtes and the country food markets take over. Twelve départements, and a calendar that tips over in forty-eight hours.
Our pick of the week is the European Hot-Air Balloon Cup, in southern Charente. It only comes round every two years, and it ends on Sunday. Watching sixty balloons leave the ground is not an everyday sight.
Meanwhile Luxey welcomes Musicalarue and its 45,000 festival-goers, while Sarlat closes its theatre festival. Want something other than a big stage? A farming cinema festival in the Creuse, a knife fair in the Périgord and a food guilds market in the Corrèze are all waiting too.
European Hot-Air Balloon Cup (16): sixty balloons over the Charente countryside
From July 29 to Sunday August 2, the Mainfonds site at Val des Vignes, near Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire, serves as the launch field for the European Hot-Air Balloon Cup. This international aeronautical competition is held only every two years in southern Charente.
Founded in 1993 by the Mainfonds-Aubeville Evènement'Ciel association, it gathers around sixty hot-air balloons. The association grew out of the local Foyer Rural, set up in 1968: this is a village affair before it is an international one.
The August 1-2 weekend closes the meeting, with Sunday as the final day of competition. A rare date, since the next edition is two years away.
Musicalarue (40): Luxey turns from forest village into a street-arts capital
From Friday July 31 to Sunday August 2, the village of Luxey, deep in the Landes pine forest, transforms for Musicalarue. The festival has run since 1990 and has never left the village.
The idea is simple: mix contemporary music concerts with street-arts shows, with neither ranked above the other. More than 80 bands, 15 stages and 45,000 festival-goers across three days, in a deliberately rural setting.
Sunday August 2 wraps up the edition. If you want a big festival without the machinery of the huge concert fields, this is the Landes booking of the week.
Festival des Jeux du Théâtre de Sarlat (24): final act for Aquitaine's oldest
Through Monday August 3, Place de la Liberté and Sarlat-la-Canéda's heritage sites host the Festival des Jeux du Théâtre de Sarlat. Founded in 1952, it is the oldest theatre festival in the Aquitaine area and the second oldest in France after Avignon.
The programme alternates classic and contemporary plays, staged outdoors in the medieval town. Established artists and young talents share the bill in front of nearly 7,000 spectators each year.
The August 1-2 weekend covers the last performances before Monday's close. The setting does a lot of the work here, especially once night falls.
Dansons sur les Quais (33): Bordeaux's giant dance floor closes on Sunday
Since July 14 and until Sunday August 2, Placette de Munich, on quai Louis XVIII, hosts the Festival Dansons sur les Quais. A huge wooden dance floor is laid out facing the Esplanade des Quinconces.
Since 2004, the event has drawn thousands of dancers, amateurs and passers-by every summer. Nearly three weeks of evenings on the banks of the Garonne, open to those who dance and those who simply watch.
Not a dancer? The floor is as good to watch as it is to use. Sunday August 2 marks the end of the run, and a way to close the weekend on the riverside rather than in front of a stage.
Musique en Ré (17): thirteen concerts crossing the island village by village
From July 27 to August 7, Musique en Ré tours the villages of the Île de Ré, with Saint-Martin-de-Ré as its anchor point. The festival has been running for almost forty years.
On the bill: thirteen concerts, six of them free and outdoors, plus symphonic programmes in the island's churches and chamber music sets. Leading musicians, soloists and conductors move from one village to the next.
The August 1-2 weekend falls right in the middle of the edition. A way to see the island beyond the cycle paths, simply by following the concert calendar.
Bastid'Art (47): 140 free performances inside a medieval bastide town
On Saturday August 1 and Sunday August 2, Miramont-de-Guyenne hosts Bastid'Art, its international street-arts festival. Founded in 1994, it takes place every first weekend of August.
The medieval bastide becomes an open-air stage. Around thirty regional and national companies take over the streets and squares, for nearly 140 fully free performances: circus, street theatre, dance and music.
Two days are barely enough to see it all. The format suits families as much as visitors who would rather wander than sit in a theatre.
Fête du Couteau de Nontron (24): a hundred knifemakers on the Allées de Bussac
On Saturday August 1 and Sunday August 2, downtown Nontron hosts the Fête du Couteau, one of the largest gatherings of artisan cutlery in France. It all happens on the Allées de Bussac.
Run by the Pôle Expérimental des Métiers d'Art, it brings together a hundred or so knifemakers, craftspeople and designers from around the world. Forging demonstrations and assembly workshops fill both days.
What do you do with a whole weekend devoted to knives? You watch the work first, and buy afterwards. A rare angle in a summer calendar dominated by stages and beer tents.
Marché des Confréries d'Objat (19): 50 food guilds and the local milk-fed veal
On Saturday August 1 and Sunday August 2, the municipal park in Objat hosts the Marché des Confréries. This Corrèze food gathering is held every first weekend of August.
More than 50 food guilds and Sites Remarquables du Goût from across France meet here, alongside local producers and regional craftspeople. Objat milk-fed veal, sardines, Roquefort, wines and Agen prunes are among the tastings.
The event is as much a meeting of French regions as it is a market. A solid introduction for anyone new to Corrèze cooking.
Fêtes d'Espelette (64): five days of village fête in French chilli country
From Saturday August 1 to Wednesday August 5, Espelette celebrates its patron saint's fête along Karrika Nagusia. The village is known worldwide for its chilli pepper, but these fêtes are Basque tradition first.
On the programme: Basque dances, Basque strength games, pelota matches at the fronton, tamborrada, brass band concerts, communal meals and a funfair. The weekend opens festivities that run through to Wednesday.
These village fêtes carry the spirit of Basque patron saint celebrations. You meet as many locals as holidaymakers here, which is not always the case in peak season.
Little Festival (40): electronic music, street art and surf on Les Bourdaines beach
From July 29 to Sunday August 2, the Little Festival takes over Les Bourdaines beach in Seignosse, spilling out to Hossegor and Capbreton. Founded in 2017, it draws close to 12,000 people.
The formula crosses electronic music, street art and surf culture. Concerts, DJ sets, board-sports demonstrations and art performances follow one another across five days, in a laid-back mood.
The August 1-2 weekend closes the edition. A deliberate counterpoint to Musicalarue, in the same département and on the same weekend.
Le Monde Paysan (23): three days of farming cinema in a Creuse village
From Friday July 31 to Sunday August 2, Saint-Marc-à-Loubaud hosts Le Monde Paysan, on the town hall square. This film festival devoted to farming life is held every year in early August.
Founded in 2007, it packs screenings of features and documentaries, debates, tastings and concerts into three days. The through line: showing the realities of farming life, well away from the rural postcard.
The 2025 edition was the nineteenth. A one-of-a-kind festival, in a Creuse village nobody reaches by accident.
Médiévale de Crozant (23): one day at the foot of the fortress
On Sunday August 2, Place de Chopeline hosts the Médiévale de Crozant, below the fortress, in the Valley of the Painters. A single day, but a busy one.
Created more than 25 years ago by Robert Carlier, the event turns the village into a living medieval set. Historical re-enactments, knight fights, troubadours, a craft market, equestrian shows and family entertainment fill the streets.
This is the weekend's second Creuse entry. Two completely different moods, in a département rarely associated with summer listings.
Also worth a look this weekend
Three smaller dates, such as these, make good fallbacks if the bigger names are sold out.
- Fête du Pain de Collonges-la-Rouge (19) — on Saturday August 1 and Sunday August 2, the medieval communal oven under the 16th-century market hall is fired up again with wood. See the listing.
- Labyrinthe de la Voix (87) — through August 2 at the château de Rochechouart, a festival built entirely around the voice, from traditional song to new vocal work. See the listing.
- La Tanière du Dahu (79) — Friday July 31 and Saturday August 1 at the château de la Durbelière, in Mauléon, between dub, techno and reggae. See the listing.
This first weekend of August opens a busy month in New Aquitaine: the Landes village fêtes and the small-town festivals then run on all summer. To see what else is on across France, head to our weekend agenda. Enjoy August in the region.
