Fête du Fleuve — Rouen celebrates the Seine

Three days to celebrate the Seine

From Friday, July 3rd to Sunday, July 5th, 2026, the City of Rouen invites residents and visitors to celebrate the Seine during the Fête du Fleuve. For three days, the right and left banks turn into a vast space for entertainment, shows, and discovery, blending nautical activities, concerts, educational workshops, and festive moments. The event highlights the river as a central element of Rouen's identity while raising awareness about environmental and climate issues.

Pont Boieldieu: The ultimate open-air tavern

Pedestrianized for the event, the Pont Boieldieu becomes the festive heart of the festival. Under maritime flags and 200 meters of fairy lights, the public will find food trucks, DJ sets, wooden games provided by Strata J'aime, participatory dance, live painting, and concerts. The "guinguette" area is set up on the left bank, at the foot of the bridge, extending the evening until 11 PM on Friday and Saturday.

The Seine as a playground

Three nautical sites will set the pace for the weekend. At the Parc Canal Camille-Claudel, sailing, stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, and rowing are available for ages 10 and up, complemented by a climbing wall, naval modeling demonstrations by the Club des Maquettistes Navals Rouennais, and knot-tying workshops led by the International Guild of Knot Tyers (IGKT France). The Piscine Guy-Boissière hosts a pool party on Saturday—featuring DJ sets, concerts, inflatables, and circus acts—followed by free-diving and scuba diving baptisms on Sunday for ages 8 and up, in slots of ten people. At the Ponton Jean-Ango, the Mercator schooners and solar-powered boats take the public on eco-friendly mini-cruises, free upon on-site registration.

Exhibitions, workshops, and maritime heritage

On the right bank, the Pavillon des Transitions presents the exhibition "Sous la pluie — Comprendre, vivre, s'adapter" (In the Rain — Understanding, Living, Adapting), on view from April 11th to September 20th, 2026, and offers artistic workshops, scientific experiments, organic face painting, biodiversity discovery, and 30-minute narrated carriage rides. The Musée maritime, fluvial et portuaire de Rouen will have special opening hours from 10 AM to 7 PM, featuring guided tours, a bookable escape game, a children's workshop, a scavenger hunt, a tour of the "Pompon Rouge", and the exhibition "200 years of the Dieppe–Newhaven line".

Parades and night show

On Saturday late afternoon, two parades converge toward the Seine: on the water, 48 small sailboats and Dragon Boats parade from the marina to the Prairie Saint-Sever with musical accompaniment; on land, a 9 km floral bicycle parade connects the City Hall to the quays. The highlight of the weekend, the show "Les Danses de l'Eau" by the ATLANTID company, brings together synchronized water jets, lights, and music at the Prairie Saint-Sever on Friday and Saturday nights. The "Cathédrale de lumière" projections on the theme of Impressionism then take over at the Place de la Cathédrale.

A kick-off to the Rouen summer

The Fête du Fleuve opens the summer season in Rouen, ahead of "Rouen sur Mer", which takes over the lower quays on the left bank between the Pont Jeanne-d'Arc and the Pont Guillaume-le-Conquérant from July 3rd to August 2nd, 2026.