Les Automnales de la Vallée de Munster

A month for ecological and solidarity transition

Created in 2024 by the association Vallée de Munster en Transition (VMT), Les Automnales is a new kind of festival in the Munster Valley. For five weeks, from October to November, this autumn event brings together residents, associations, and local actors around a common ambition: to accelerate ecological and solidarity transition at the territorial level. The festival is distinguished by its participatory and decentralized format, with events spread across several municipalities in the valley.

Varied and accessible events

The Automnales program covers a wide range of themes related to transition:

• Screenings and debates: committed documentaries followed by discussions with speakers, such as « Le vivant qui se défend » by Vincent Verzat or films on sustainable agriculture.
• Practical workshops: sewing and textile recycling, making natural household products, composting, permaculture in the garden.
• Repair cafés: volunteers repair electronic devices, bicycles, clothes, and small everyday objects for free.
• Conferences and meetings: talks by personalities from the associative and environmental world, such as the president of Mountain Wilderness France.
• Open houses: discovery of the participatory grocery store La Goutte d'eau and other local initiatives.

Vallée de Munster en Transition: the driving association

The association VMT (Vallée de Munster en Transition) is the driving force behind this event. Active throughout the year, it organizes monthly repair cafés, a free exchange zone, a bike collective, potlucks, and film-debates. Les Automnales concentrate and amplify these initiatives over a month, offering a showcase for all actors of the transition in the valley.

A citizen and participatory festival

The originality of Les Automnales lies in its participatory dimension. Every resident can propose a workshop, host an event, or simply come to discover the alternatives developing in the valley. The festival is aimed at all audiences, from families to retirees, from students to farmers, with a program that is deliberately free or donation-based to encourage access for the greatest number.

The Munster Valley, a transition laboratory

Nestled in the heart of the Ballons des Vosges Regional Natural Park, the Munster Valley is an ideal territory for experimenting with ecological transition. Between mountain agriculture, Vosges forests, and built heritage, environmental issues are concrete and daily. Les Automnales contribute to making this valley a living laboratory for sustainable and solidarity-based practices.