Events and festivals in Grand Est on the weekend of 24 October: a Halloween sabbath at the Cognelot fort, truffles in Eguisheim, Italian cinema in Villerupt, books and poetry in Charleville-Mézières.
A fort, witches and a bread oven. On Saturday 24 October 2026, the Witches' Festival settles into the Cognelot fort in Chalindrey, in Haute-Marne. Events and festivals in Grand Est on the weekend of 24 October: a Halloween sabbath at the Cognelot fort, truffles in Eguisheim, Italian cinema in Villerupt, books and poetry in Charleville-Mézières.
The Cognelot fort, its rooms and its bread oven
The Chalindrey Witches' Festival runs on Saturday 24 October from 2 pm to 7 pm, then on Sunday 25 from 10 am to 6 pm. The Cognelot fort, also called Fort Vercingétorix, was built between 1874 and 1877 on a promontory between Chalindrey and Langres. It has more than 15 exhibition rooms, and the festival has been held there since 1999: the 2026 edition is the 28th.
Around sixty exhibitors fill these rooms over the two days. Costume jewellery, home decoration, handmade clothes, local produce, Halloween accessories. A master baker shapes the witches' breads in the fort's oven, along with brioches and sweet and savoury treats. The shows change from one year to the next: fantastical creatures (werewolves, elves, fairies, clowns), music, magic, acrobatics, face painting and balloon sculpting workshops. Free for under-12s, €5 from age 12, €8 for the family pack.
The fort was disarmed around 1935 and now shelters bats.
The setting comes from a local legend. According to the belief, the devil, nicknamed the Foulletot, presided over the witches' sabbath on the Cognelot hill, dressed in red. In 1598, a Chalindrey resident, Clément Rabiet, was declared a sorcerer and executed for boasting of having met him, which earned the town its nickname of land of the Witches.
Truffles, Italian films, poetry and a haunted castle
In Eguisheim, the Mushroom Festival brings together on Saturday and Sunday, from 9 am to 6 pm, an exhibition of freshly picked mushrooms, the official Alsace Truffle Market on Place du Château and guided mushroom walks in the forest at 9.30 am and 2.30 pm, free with registration. On Place de la République in Metz, the Beer Festival keeps its Oktoberfest village, free entry, open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays with Jacky Melody on those evenings. In Nancy, the Foire d'Automne lines up some fifty fairground attractions in the Parc de la Pépinière: entry to the park is free, rides are paid one by one, between €2 and €5.
The Villerupt Italian Film Festival opens on Friday 23 October for its 49th edition, running to 8 November: around 70 films in six cinemas on both sides of the Luxembourg border. A single ticket costs €8, sold on site at the Town Hall one hour before the first screening.
In Charleville-Mézières, the Biennale des Ailleurs devotes its last days to poetry, until Sunday 25, in Rimbaud's home town.
At the Salle Nevers, the Book Fair sells novels, comics and old editions from ten cents to a few euros, in aid of the Société de Saint-Vincent-de-Paul des Ardennes. The sale accounts for 85% of the charity's budget. Free entry.
On Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October, the Tanzmatten in Sélestat host the Rock Your Brain Fest: around fifteen rock, punk, metal and stoner gigs, split between a Metal Day and a Disorder Day. The storytelling festival Les Colporteurs d'Histoires ends on Sunday 25 October, in the villages around Pompey, in Meurthe-et-Moselle.
At the Château de Malbrouck in Manderen-Ritzing, in northern Moselle, the Bêtes et Sorcières festival dresses the fortress in autumn and Halloween colours. A walk through a haunted castle from 10 am to 6 pm, €7 full price, €5 reduced, free for under-12s.
In Chalindrey, the refreshment bar and treats are prepared on site by the association L'Effort du Cognelot throughout the weekend of 24-25/10.