Events and festivals in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on October 10 and 11: the Lumière Festival opens in Lyon, the Nationale 7 jams up in Lapalisse and the Castagnades kick off in the Ardèche.
Saturday, October 10, 2026, in Lyon. The Lumière Festival opens nine days of classic cinema there, while the region rolls out the rest of its weekend, from the Nationale 7 to the chestnut groves of the Ardèche. Events and festivals in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on October 10 and 11: the Lumière Festival opens in Lyon, the Nationale 7 jams up in Lapalisse and the Castagnades kick off in the Ardèche.
The Lumière Festival, classic cinema in Lyon
The Lumière Festival opens in Lyon on 10 October 2026 and runs until 18 October. Founded in 2009 by the Institut Lumière and directed by Thierry Frémaux, it is devoted to classic cinema, in the city where the cinematograph was invented.
The Prix Lumière is its high point. The 2026 honor roll carries the names of Joel and Ethan Coen, after Michael Mann in 2025 and Isabelle Huppert in 2024. Each laureate shoots their own version of Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory on rue du Premier-Film, and a plaque goes up on the filmmakers' wall.
About fifty venues host screenings across the Lyon metropolitan area: the Halle Tony Garnier, the Auditorium de Lyon, the Célestins, the Institut Lumière, and 22 partner cinemas spread over 21 towns.
The program lines up full retrospectives, restored prints, cine-concerts and master classes. A screening costs 8.50 € at full price and 6.50 € for accredited guests, and accreditation is free for anyone under 26. The Village Cinéma is free to enter. Screenings are also held in health facilities and prisons, with subtitled showings for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences. The Marché international du film classique, created by the festival, brings classic-cinema professionals together in parallel, at the Grand Hôtel-Dieu.
Jazz, chestnuts and knives, from the Allier to Haute-Savoie
Two moods in the Allier. In Lapalisse, the 11th Embouteillage de la Nationale 7 runs from October 8 to 11: hundreds of vintage vehicles parade in retro costumes, the main parade takes place on Saturday and Sunday, and the town marks 20 years of Nationale 7 Historique. Access to the parade and street entertainment is free, while the retro dinner dance is paid. Also on the bill: a vintage car elegance contest and a race of old bicycles. In Vichy, the Vichy Jazzy Festival, running October 10 to 12, brings Gypsy jazz, swing and New Orleans to the Salle des Fêtes, with concerts, talks and dance evenings. It began in 2023, and the festival pass costs 45 € at full price.
Sunday is the last day for two music festivals: the Grenoble Alpes Métropole Jazz Festival and the Baroque en Forez Festival, in the Loire. The first spreads its concerts over ten venues in eight towns of the Grenoble area, the second across churches and castles of the Forez.
Saturday from 9 am to 6 pm, Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm: the Salon de la Durolle aux Couteaux gathers more than 100 exhibitors in La Monnerie-le-Montel, entry 3 €, with a cabbage soup offered on Sunday morning. The Castagnades open on October 10 in the Monts d'Ardèche: eleven villages celebrate the chestnut, each on its own date, until November 8. It is the 27th edition, and this year's common thread is the 20th anniversary of the Ardèche chestnut AOP.
Books, screens and the living world. The Artists' Book Festival takes place at the Archipel Butor in Lucinges, with a fair, exhibitions and workshops in engraving, monotype and embossing. Michel Butor, a writer who settled in Lucinges, authored more than 3,500 artists' books. Festiwild fills the former monastery of Sainte-Croix, in the Diois, from October 9 to 11: films, talks and nature outings on the bond between humans and the living world. In Tence, the Red Armchair Festival ends on Sunday, with films shown simultaneously in Tence, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and Le Mazet-Saint-Voy, and debates.
Last year, the Lumière Festival drew 185,000 attendees.