Events and festivals in Île-de-France this weekend, October 24, 2026, split between the art fairs around Art Basel Paris, children's cinema, the Versailles fountains and free storytelling in the Mantois.
Under the glass roof of the Grand Palais. That is where the fair welcomes visitors on Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Events and festivals in Île-de-France this weekend, October 24, 2026, split between the art fairs around Art Basel Paris, children's cinema, the Versailles fountains and free storytelling in the Mantois.
Art Basel Paris under the Grand Palais glass roof
Art Basel Paris opens to the public from Friday, October 23 to Sunday, October 25, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., after a public preview on Thursday the 22nd. Launched in 2022 as Paris+ par Art Basel and renamed Art Basel Paris from 2024, the fair succeeds the FIAC. More than 200 international galleries show there each year.
The glass roof, the largest in Europe, was built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle. A major renovation of the Grand Palais ended in 2024.
The public programme spills out of the palace. Nine venues across the capital, from the Petit Palais to Avenue Winston Churchill, host works that set contemporary art in dialogue with Parisian heritage.
Art Basel also runs the fairs in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong. In Paris, a day ticket costs 47 euros, or 30 euros for under-26s and students. Franklin D. Roosevelt metro station, on lines 1 and 9, serves the palace.
Paris fairs, films and fountains
At the Carreau du Temple, AKAA gathers galleries from October 23 to 25 around African creation and its diasporas, over more than 2,000 square metres. Founded in 2016, it is the first contemporary art and design fair devoted to Africa in France: 16 euros admission, 11 euros reduced, free for under-12s. At the Monnaie de Paris, Asia Now closes on Saturday, October 24, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; founded in 2015, it is the only fair in Europe devoted exclusively to artists from Asia. On Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, the Outsider Art Fair Paris shows art brut alongside Art Basel Paris; it was born in New York in 1993 and has been in Paris since 2013. Free entry, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
On screen, Pariscience shows science films free of charge, with registration, at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle until October 26. Every screening is followed by a debate with the film crews, and family sessions take place at the weekend. Mon Premier Festival programs more than 100 films from age 2 in some twenty Paris cinemas until October 27, at a flat 4.50 euros, during the All Saints school holidays. Its 21st edition drew nearly 39,500 admissions in 2025.
At Versailles, Saturday and Sunday (24-25/10), from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Grandes Eaux Musicales set the Le Nôtre gardens' fountains going to Lully, Rameau and Charpentier, from 9.50 euros. The Neptune basin and its 99 water jets are the climax, at the end of a 35-kilometre network feeding more than 600 water features.
In the Mantois, Tu contes pour moi ! starts on Saturday, October 24 at Mantes-la-Ville and spreads to eight towns until November 15. Tales, puppets and participatory shows, about forty performances by a dozen artists, all free, with booking through the venue that hosts them.
Villes des Musiques du Monde changes venue every evening until November 7, from Aubervilliers to Trappes, across a network of more than twenty partner towns. For its 30th year, the festival has chosen the title "Le monde est (déjà) ici".