Espelette Pepper Festival

France's only PDO spice

The Espelette pepper is the only spice in France to benefit from the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Arriving in the Basque Country around 1650, it is cultivated using ancestral methods that have hardly changed over the centuries. Today, this production represents a turnover of 9 million euros and supports 170 farmers spread across the ten communes of the appellation. The Pepper Festival celebrates this living heritage every last weekend of October.

A festival born in 1967

The Espelette Pepper Festival was conceived in 1967 by the Espelette Tourist Office and its president Michel Darraidou, who wanted to create a quality event for the late season. Its success exceeding all expectations, the inhabitants, shopkeepers, and the municipality wished for the event to be repeated. Two years later, on October 26, 1969, the Brotherhood of the Espelette Pepper was founded in front of the Elizaldea farm, adding a solemn and festive dimension to the celebration.

Solemn mass and parade of brotherhoods

Sunday morning is the traditional highlight of the festival. The solemn mass celebrated in Espelette church, led by the local choir and the Ezpeletarrak brass band, is followed by the blessing of the peppers. The spectacular parade of brotherhoods through the village streets, in traditional red and white costumes, precedes the induction ceremony at the open-air theatre, where the Pepper Prize of the year is awarded to a personality.

Bands festival and producers' market

Throughout the weekend, a bands festival animates the streets of Espelette with lively musical groups. The producers' market offers Espelette peppers in all their forms (fresh, dried, powdered, in strings) as well as regional products: sheep's cheese, Bayonne ham, chocolate, Basque cake, and other local specialties. The village's bars and restaurants offer special menus featuring pepper.

An event inscribed in intangible heritage

Since 2014, the Espelette Pepper Festival has been listed in the Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of France, recognizing the cultural and heritage value of this celebration, which goes far beyond gastronomy. It testifies to the attachment of a village and a region to a product that has shaped its identity, landscape, and economy over the centuries.