Art Explora Festival
A cultural festival featuring an itinerant museum boat, stopping in Le Havre
2026
About Art Explora Festival
The Art Explora Festival drops anchor in Le Havre with the world's first museum boat, a 47-metre catamaran supported by the Art Explora Foundation, a non-profit organisation. The free programme features an immersive exhibition co-produced with the Louvre Museum, soundscapes by Ircam and the Centre Pompidou, virtual reality experiences, concerts, talks, and workshops focused on marine worlds.
Art Explora Festival — edition 2026
From October 1st to 11th, 2026, the Art Explora museum boat will be docked at the Bassin de l'Eure in Le Havre for eleven days of free admission. On board and on the docks, enjoy immersive exhibitions including "Présentes," designed with the Louvre, virtual reality experiences, talks, family workshops, and evening DJ sets and performances. Laurent Ballesta will give a talk on Antarctica on October 2nd.
Highlights Art Explora Festival 2026
- Thursday, October 1st: Opening day, KoolCast Brass Gang parade, and "To da Bone" performance by (LA)HORDE
- Friday, October 2nd: "Loin du ciel" talk by Laurent Ballesta
- Saturday, October 3rd: Performance by Leïla Ka, DJ sets by Ibaaku and Awir Leon, and "Level Up" by Amala Dianor
- Sunday, October 4th: Meeting with director Abderrahmane Sissako, performance by Bintou Dembélé
- Saturday, October 10th: Ballroom exhibition by Kiddy Smile, "Prélude" by Kader Attou
- Sunday, October 11th: "Dancehall weather" by Cecilia Bengolea, concert by the Racine Caraïbe collective
Programme Art Explora Festival 2026
Admission to the Bassin de l'Eure site is free; however, some experiences and workshops require booking. On October 1st (opening day), the site is open from 1:00 PM to 10:30 PM; from October 2nd to 11th, it is open daily from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. No events are scheduled for October 5th and 6th.
Ongoing, October 1st–11th, 2026
- 10:00 AM–9:00 PM — Museum Boat - Song of Water exhibition · Quai du Cameroun
- 10:00 AM–9:00 PM — Documentary - The Art of the Ocean · Quai de Marseille
- 10:00 AM–9:00 PM — Immersive exhibition - Présentes · Quai de Marseille
- 10:00 AM–9:00 PM — Immersive exhibition - Psychosphere, Jakob Kudsk Steensen · Quai de Marseille
- 10:00 AM–9:00 PM — Sound experience - Grand large, ocean sound journeys · Quai de Marseille
- 10:00 AM–9:00 PM — Virtual reality - The Starry Sand Beach · Quai de Marseille
- 10:00 AM–9:00 PM — Virtual reality - Mediterranean Wonders
- 10:00 AM–9:00 PM — Virtual reality - Carbon Black · Quai de Marseille
- 10:00 AM–10:00 PM — Photo exhibition - Subantarctica · Quai de Marseille
- Virtual reality - TRAVERSE: Discovering virtual reality with CinéMo · Quai des Antilles, Bassin Paul Vatine
- Guided tour of the Song of Water exhibition aboard the museum boat · Quai de Marseille (starting October 2nd)
Thursday, October 1st, 2026
- 1:00 PM–10:30 PM — Opening Day in Le Havre · Quai de Marseille and Quai du Cameroun
- 6:00 PM–6:30 PM — Concert - La fafara fissa papa, Cie Gipsy Pigs · Quai de Marseille
- 6:00 PM–6:30 PM — Musical performance - KoolCast Brass Gang · Departing from Hangar zéro, 37 Quai de la Saône, arriving at Art Explora Festival, Quai de Marseille
- 7:30 PM–9:00 PM — Performance - To da Bone, (LA)HORDE · Quai de Marseille
- 9:30 PM–10:30 PM — DJ set - Helios · Quai de Marseille
Friday, October 2nd, 2026
- 6:00 PM–7:30 PM — Talk - Loin du ciel, Laurent Ballesta · Quai de Marseille
- 7:30 PM–8:30 PM — Performance - Hervé x MazelFreten · Quai de Marseille
- 9:00 PM–10:30 PM — DJ set - Collective 329 · Quai de Marseille
Saturday, October 3rd, 2026
- 5:30 PM–6:00 PM — Talk - Upcycling for the Ocean, Les MétamorForses · Quai de Marseille
- 10:30 AM–11:30 AM — Workshop - Making the marine invisible visible, Émilie Gaïd · Quai de Marseille
- 10:30 AM–12:30 PM — Storytelling - Diving into Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea · Quai de Marseille
- 10:30 AM–12:30 PM — Workshop - Pop-up Ocean · Quai de Marseille (also on October 4th)
- 11:30 AM–12:30 PM — Workshop - Making the marine invisible visible, Émilie Gaïd · Quai de Marseille
- 1:00 PM–4:00 PM — Workshop - Activity by Aquacaux · Quai de Marseille (also on October 4th)
- 3:00 PM–6:00 PM — Workshop - Postcard · Quai de Marseille (also on October 4th)
- 4:30 PM–6:00 PM — Guided tour of the Un Été Au Havre artworks along the water · Departing from Musée d’art moderne André Malraux, returning to the Festival
- 5:00 PM–5:30 PM — Talk - From the shores of Australia to the collections of Le Havre: the metamorphosis of ghost nets · Quai de Marseille
- 6:30 PM–6:45 PM — Performance - Bouffées, Leïla Ka · Quai de Marseille
- 7:15 PM–8:15 PM — DJ Set - Fateleku ki ma doon / Remembering who I am, Ibaaku · Quai de Marseille
- 8:30 PM–9:00 PM — Performance - Level Up (Extract of DUB), Amala Dianor · Quai de Marseille
- 9:00 PM–10:30 PM — DJ Set - Awir Leon · Quai de Marseille
Sunday, October 4th, 2026
- Virtual Reality and Talk - Meeting with director Abderrahmane Sissako about his film Artou · Quai du Cameroun and Quai de Marseille
- 10:30 AM–11:30 AM — Guided tour - Memory trail of colonial Le Havre · Meeting point: Quai de Marseille
- 11:30 AM–12:30 PM — Storytelling - The slave trade explained to children · Quai de Marseille
- 2:00 PM–6:00 PM — Workshop - When coral bleaches · Quai de Marseille
- 3:30 PM–5:00 PM — Performance - L'enfant océan · Quai de Marseille
- 8:00 PM–8:15 PM — Screening - Les Indes Galantes, Clément Cogitore · Quai de Marseille
- 8:30 PM–10:00 PM — Performance - G.R.O.O.V.E.; extracts, Bintou Dembélé · Quai de Marseille
- 10:00 PM–10:30 PM — DJ Set - Solar System, Meech de France · Quai de Marseille
Wednesday, October 7th, 2026
- 2:00 PM–6:00 PM — Workshop - Ici la ZIP · Quai de Marseille
- 4:00 PM–4:30 PM — Talk - Frédéric Denise & Pierre Bouysset · Quai de Marseille
- 4:30 PM–5:00 PM — Cross-discussion - Aquacaux x Symbi0se / Hangar Zéro · Quai de Marseille
- 4:30 PM–6:00 PM — Workshop - Customizing recycled boxes with an ocean theme · Quai de Marseille
- 5:30 PM–6:00 PM — Talk - Making the invisible visible: when a tiny crustacean reveals the secrets of plastic pollution · Quai de Marseille
- 6:00 PM–6:30 PM — Performance - LH pas la Plume · Quai de Marseille
- 6:45 PM–7:45 PM — Talk - Ghost funds, students of the Master and DNSEP in literary creation of Le Havre · Quai de Marseille
- 8:00 PM–9:00 PM — DJ set - Moumout · Quai de Marseille
Thursday, October 8th, 2026
- 2:30 PM–6:30 PM — Workshop - D-TERRE plays, explores, unites · Quai de Marseille, Art Explora Festival
- 4:30 PM–5:30 PM — Talk - Géraldine Lefebvre, director of the MuMa · Quai de Marseille
- 5:30 PM–6:00 PM — Talk - Teuthis · Quai de Marseille
- 6:00 PM–7:30 PM — Talk - Under The Pole · Quai de Marseille
- 7:00 PM–7:15 PM — Film - Genealogy of Violence, Mohamed Bourouissa · Quai de Marseille
- 8:00 PM–9:30 PM — DJ Set - Jokkoo Collective with B4MBA, MOOKI6 & TNTC · Quai de Marseille
Friday, October 9th, 2026
- 6:00 PM–7:00 PM — Performance - Des gens Qui dansent, Plastic Affair by Charlène Le Prêtre · Quai de Marseille
- 7:30 PM–8:00 PM — Performance - °Up, Le Phare Centre Chorégraphique national du Havre Normandie · Quai de Marseille
- 8:30 PM–10:00 PM — DJ set - MAGMAXPLORA, MAGMA collective · Quai de Marseille
Saturday, October 10th, 2026
- 10:00 AM–2:00 PM — Creative workshop Un Été Au Havre – Icy reflections · Quai de Marseille, Art Explora Festival
- 10:30 AM–11:30 AM — Workshop - Tattoos with Louise Ganot · Quai de Marseille
- 11:30 AM–1:30 PM — Workshop - Mural about the sea and oceans, with Louise Ganot · Quai de Marseille
- 2:00 PM–3:30 PM — Workshop - Des Gens Qui Dansent, Plastic Affair by Charlène Le Prêtre · Quai de Marseille (also on October 11th)
- 2:30 PM–3:30 PM — Workshop - Tattoos with Louise Ganot · Quai de Marseille
- 3:00 PM–6:00 PM — Workshop - Postcard · Quai de Marseille (also on October 11th)
- 5:00 PM–7:00 PM — Performance - Ballroom exhibition, Kiddy Smile & House of Gorgeous Gucci · Quai de Marseille
- 7:30 PM–8:00 PM — Dance performance - Prélude, Kader Attou · Quai de Marseille
- 8:00 PM–9:00 PM — DJ set - Jana Saleh · Quai de Marseille
- 9:00 PM–10:00 PM — DJ Set - Fratelli Disco · Quai de Marseille
Sunday, October 11th, 2026
- 10:30 AM–12:00 PM — Workshop - Customizing recycled boxes with an ocean theme · Quai de Marseille
- 10:30 AM–12:30 PM — Storytelling - The ocean story bar · Quai de Marseille
- 2:00 PM–5:30 PM — Orienteering race x Turbo Running Gang · Quai de Marseille
- 2:30 PM–4:00 PM — Workshop - Customizing recycled boxes with an ocean theme · Quai de Marseille
- 4:00 PM–5:00 PM — Workshop - Racine Caraïbe collective · Quai de Marseille
- 5:30 PM–6:30 PM — Performance - Adolescence, Theatre on Demand · Quai de Marseille
- 7:00 PM–8:00 PM — Concert - On Rassembleman, Racine Caraïbe collective · Quai de Marseille
- 8:30 PM–9:00 PM — Performance - Dancehall weather, Cecilia Bengolea · Quai de Marseille
Program as published by the Art Explora Foundation on its Le Havre festival page; times are subject to change.
Prices Art Explora Festival 2026
Practical information — Art Explora Festival
The museum boat is docked at the Bassin de l'Eure, between Quai de Marseille and Quai du Cameroun, in Le Havre. Access to the site and the boat is free, with the option to book a time slot online; the vessel can accommodate up to 2,000 visitors daily. The entire site is accessible to people with reduced mobility, including wheelchair access on board, and the festival offers assistance upon request for those with sensory, cognitive, or invisible disabilities.
An itinerant museum boat
Designed by architects Axel de Beaufort and Guillaume Verdier and built by the Italian shipyard Perini Navi, the catamaran stands 55 metres tall and can welcome up to 2,000 visitors per day. Launched in the spring of 2024, the festival has visited fourteen cities across the Mediterranean, from Barcelona to Athens, via Venice and Tangier, attracting over 400,000 visitors. Le Havre marks the start of the second season of this odyssey, now turning towards the Atlantic.
Where does it take place — Art Explora Festival
Art Explora Festival in brief
Other festivals near Le Havre
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Published by Valentin Contard, festival listings writer. Reviewed, corrected and approved by Christophe Contard, editor-in-chief. .
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