Events and festivals in Hauts-de-France on September 26-27, 2026: the World Fry Championship takes over Arras' Grand'Place, alongside a beer marathon in Bergues and a Venetian carnival in Beauvais.
Saturday, in the heart of Arras. The Grand'Place turns into the world capital of the fry, this 26/09/2026. The Fry Championship animates the square into the evening. The rest of the Hauts-de-France weekend splits between a beer marathon in Bergues, a Venetian carnival in Beauvais, concerts and events.
The World Fry Championship
The World Fry Championship brings this Saturday, September 26, 2026, to the Grand'Place of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais. Arras Pays d'Artois Tourisme created it in 2023. It has become the yearly event that turns the Grand'Place into the world capital of the fry.
Six categories drive the contest. Contestants from across France and beyond compete in family fry, creative fry, world fry, the newcomer category and the sauces category. Each category rewards a different take on the same product, from the most classic recipe to the most inventive version.
The day mixes masterclasses and a fry village, set up on the Grand'Place for the occasion. Both formats run in parallel, on the same site and on the same day, in the heart of Arras.
The rest of the weekend
The race sets off in Bergues. The Flanders Beer Marathon Festival runs, every late September, three races organised by the L'Échappée Bière association around the Saint-Winoc abbey. A half-marathon starts from Esquelbecq, a marathon and a 13-kilometre circuit start from Bergues itself, alongside a brewers' village. Beauvais, meanwhile, turns Venetian. Les Rencontres Beauvénitiennes, organised by the town of Beauvais, gather fifty to sixty costumed participants, in masks and Commedia dell'arte-inspired outfits. They parade through the streets before a procession at Place Jeanne-Hachette, free entry. On to Grenay, next. The HRB Festival gathers a day of rock and blues concerts at the Espace culturel Ronny Coutteure, run by its volunteers. Proceeds go entirely to the Centre Oscar Lambret in Lille, an oncology centre.
On to the cinema, in Valenciennes. Its Festival 2 Cinéma runs through September 29, run by the Atmosphères association since 2011, with an international fiction competition, a documentary competition and out-of-competition previews. In Lille, it's the short film's turn. The International Short Film Festival, held every autumn by the Rencontres Audiovisuelles association, closes this Sunday ten days of screenings open to fiction, animation, documentary and experimental works. The line-up adds a national competition, an international competition, youth screenings, a live-scored film, Short Film Marathon and the Night of Animation. In Hellemmes, amateur theatre takes over. La Baraque Foraine ends the same Sunday a month of amateur performances at the Kursaal, comedies, dramas, storytelling and classic theatre. The gathering has been held every autumn since 1952, with the backing of the Nord department and the Métropole Européenne de Lille.
On to the Oise, next. The Festival Mosaïque, run since 2020 by the Faïencerie Théâtre de Creil and the Creil Sud Oise conurbation, brings free dance, theatre and circus to ten towns' public spaces through Sunday. Art installations round out the programme. In Amiens, the gardens take over. The International Garden Festival has turned the Hortillonnages into an open-air museum since 2010. About fifty contemporary creations, gardens, art installations and site-specific works, blend into these man-made floating gardens. The Aisne backs dance instead. Festival C'est comme ça! continues in Château-Thierry, since its creation in 2006 by L'échangeur, CDCN Hauts-de-France, with around twenty choreographic pieces and "other stages". The programme also mixes exhibitions, films, talks and workshops.
Festival C'est comme ça! is held at 53 rue Paul Doucet, in Château-Thierry.