Port-sur-Saône International Folklore Festival

An international folklore festival

Created in 1990 on the initiative of Jean-Paul Mariot, then mayor of Port-sur-Saône, the International Folklore Festival — also known as Spectacles du Monde — has become over three decades one of the major international folklore events in France. Every first weekend of August, this small town in Haute-Saône, fifteen kilometers from Vesoul, welcomes hundreds of artists from all over the world.

Over one hundred countries represented in thirty-five years

Over the years, the festival has hosted troupes from over a hundred countries from five continents: vibrant dances from Sri Lanka, Peruvian huaynos, Czech polkas, traditional Korean dances, Mexican folklore, Georgian music… Each evening is a journey around the world, where shimmering costumes, captivating rhythms, and spectacular choreography transport the audience into a whirlwind of colors and emotions.

Affiliated with CIOFF and under UNESCO patronage

Since 2004, the festival has been a member of CIOFF (International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts), an NGO in official relations with UNESCO. In 2005, it obtained UNESCO patronage, a prestigious distinction that makes it the only cultural event in Haute-Saône to benefit from this recognition. Jean-Pascal Mariot, director of the festival, has chaired CIOFF France since 2019, further strengthening the event's international standing.

A week of celebration and sharing

The festival is not limited to evening performances. Throughout the week, free events take over the streets, squares, and surrounding villages: costumed parades, dance workshops, meetings with artists, artisan markets, and world gastronomy. Folkloric groups are hosted by local families, creating human connections that last well beyond the festival.

Port-sur-Saône, a land of welcome and fraternity

Founded on the values of tolerance, friendship, and peace among peoples, the Spectacles du Monde festival embodies a humanistic vision of culture. It has united volunteers, elected officials, and residents around a common project: to make Port-sur-Saône a place of dialogue between civilizations, where cultural diversity is celebrated as a universal richness.