Festival do Emigrante

A festival for the Portuguese community of Île-de-France

The Val-d'Oise is one of the departments in the Île-de-France region that hosts the largest Portuguese community in France. Tens of thousands of French people of Portuguese origin live and work there, keeping alive a rich and unique culture that deserves to be celebrated and shared. It is in this spirit that the Festival do Emigrante was founded in Herblay-sur-Seine: to give this community an annual event of cultural pride, and to open the doors of Portuguese and Lusophone culture to the widest possible audience.

The name of the festival is evocative: do Emigrante (of the emigrant) pays homage to all those generations of Portuguese who left their country to build their lives in France, enriching the host country with their work, their culture, and their conviviality. This title carries dignity and recognition: the emigrant is not a figure of loss but of strength, courage, and mutual enrichment.

A program rooted in Lusophone culture

Music is naturally at the heart of the Festival do Emigrante. The musical program draws from the various repertoires of Portuguese and Lusophone music: fado, the song of the Portuguese soul classified as intangible heritage by UNESCO, with its Portuguese guitars and voices that stir the heart; popular Portuguese music, joyful and danceable, which accompanies village festivals in Portugal; pimba, a popular genre much appreciated by expatriate communities; and sometimes Brazilian, Cape Verdean, or Angolan influences that recall the extent of the Lusophone world far beyond the borders of mainland Portugal.

Artists from Portugal perform on the main stage of the Stade des Beauregards, alongside Lusophone artists based in France. These concerts are moments of intense emotion for the audience, who find in this music the flavors of their homeland, childhood memories, and family ties that cross borders.

Gastronomy, a pillar of the festival

One cannot talk about the Festival do Emigrante without mentioning the essential gastronomic dimension of the event. Portuguese gastronomy, rich and generous, holds a central place in the program. Stands offer the most beloved specialties: pastéis de nata (those irresistible baked cream tarts), bacalhau (salted cod cooked in a thousand ways), piri piri (marinated chicken with chili peppers), grilled sardines (sardinhas assadas), skewers, Iberian cured meats, and of course Portuguese wines and beers, including Sagres, the official beer of the festival.

This gastronomic abundance makes the festival a complete sensory experience, where music and food blend in the convivial tradition of Portuguese festas. Tables set up on the site invite you to share a meal, raise a glass, and extend conversations in this spirit of collective celebration that is the very essence of the festival.

The Stade des Beauregards, a welcoming venue

The Stade des Beauregards, located at 135 Route de Pierrelaye in Herblay-sur-Seine, offers the necessary space to accommodate the thousands of festival-goers who gather each summer. Its large lawn, outdoor areas, and sports facilities converted for the festival allow for open-air concerts, gastronomic stands, and activities in an open and family-friendly setting. The festival is accessible to children, families, and all ages, with specific activities for the younger ones.

Herblay-sur-Seine, a town on the Oise river in the Val-d'Oise department, is well-served from Paris (RER C, Transilien line J), allowing festival-goers from all over Île-de-France to easily reach the site. The festival's institutional partners — banks, insurance companies, Portuguese media such as SIC, Rádio Latina, and Rádio Alfa — testify to the festival's deep roots in the Lusophone community of Île-de-France.