Zigzag Festival
Architecture and Spatial Arts Festival in the Seine Valley
2026
About Zigzag Festival
Zigzag is an architecture and spatial arts festival that travels along the Seine Valley, stretching from the Paris region to the Normandy estuary. Coordinated since 2019 by the Maison de l'architecture de Normandie – le Forum, it offers a variety of autumn activities including construction site tours, hikes, bike rides, boat trips, and meet-ups. The festival highlights a region in the midst of transformation, showcasing converted industrial sites, harbor districts, gardens, and riverbanks.
The towns featured change with each edition depending on the architectural projects being highlighted. Every activity is free and led by architects, urban planners, artists, or local residents.
Zigzag Festival — edition 2026
For its 8th edition, Zigzag explores the ongoing transformations between Colombes, Rouen, and Le Havre: industrial wastelands, port districts, gardens, and redeveloped riverbanks. The opening weekend focuses on the Rouen metropolitan area, featuring the Friche Badin in Barentin and a closing banquet by the edge of the île Rollet; the final weekend explores Le Havre, with a construction site tour of the Gobelins, a choreographic port hike, and a bike ride through the port.
In between, a cruise on the Seine, a POPSU seminar, and several public meetings continue the theme of this edition: understanding a territory that is reinventing itself, whether on foot, by bike, on the water, or around a table.
The 2026 edition spans thirteen municipalities between the Paris region and Le Havre: Colombes, Épinay-sur-Seine, Paris, Poses, Léry-Poses, Gaillon, Rouen, Sotteville-lès-Rouen, Grand-Quevilly, Duclair, Barentin, Quillebeuf-sur-Seine, and Le Havre. Two weekends host the majority of the events, with meetings and an urban research seminar (POPSU) held during the week.
The format remains the same as in previous editions since 2019: guided tours by architects, urban planners, or local residents, hikes, bike rides, boat trips, workshops, and a closing banquet, all free of charge and requiring registration.
Programme Zigzag Festival 2026
Saturday, September 26, 2026
- 9:00 AM — West of the Metropolis, hike · Grand-Quevilly
- 10:00 AM — Transforming the city in the face of climate change, tour · Malaunay
- 10:00 AM — From the île Rollet, workshop · Rouen
- 1:30 PM — D for Design, D for Defi, workshop (sold out) · Rouen
- 2:00 PM — Territory & Climate: understand, debate, act, exhibition · Rouen
- 2:30 PM — Friche Badin, industrial memory in motion, tour · Barentin
- 7:30 PM — Banquet, between feast and discovery, meeting · Rouen
Sunday, September 27, 2026
- 10:00 AM — MIT, a cultural third-place in a former school, construction site tour · Duclair
- 10:00 AM — Rouen, the port facing the water, walk · Rouen
- 11:00 AM — MIT, a cultural third-place in a former school, construction site tour (continued) · Duclair
- 3:30 PM and 5:30 PM — Under the exact sun, illustrated lecture and performance · Rouen
Wednesday, September 30 and Thursday, October 1, 2026
- 9:00 AM — A cultural Seine, POPSU seminar · Rouen
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
- 5:00 PM — Living in the zone, field journal(s), meeting · Le Havre
Thursday, October 1, 2026
- 6:30 PM — Flaubert, thinking and building the neighborhood of tomorrow, meeting · Rouen
Friday, October 2, 2026
- 10:00 AM — The Seine, living matter, cruise · Paris
Saturday, October 3, 2026
- 10:00 AM — Lux Tour, the heart caravan, event · Rouen
- 10:00 AM — The Nez'en Seine, sensory and landscape walk · Quillebeuf-sur-Seine
- 10:30 AM — Ecological Reserve House, tour · Épinay-sur-Seine
- 2:30 PM and 6:30 PM — EOP, large-format photography exhibitions · Rouen, Grand-Quevilly, Sotteville-lès-Rouen
- 2:30 PM — Gateway to the Seine estuary, tour · Poses
Sunday, October 4, 2026
- 10:00 AM — Lux Tour, the heart caravan, event (continued) · Rouen
- 10:00 AM — Drawing the landscape, workshop · Léry-Poses
- 10:00 AM — From the castle to the gardens, tour and construction site · Gaillon
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
- 7:00 PM — Genius, the spirit of the place, meeting · Le Havre
Saturday, October 10, 2026
- 10:00 AM — Genius Bike Tour, bike ride · Le Havre
- 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM — Saint-Joseph Church bubbles over!, architectural tour · Le Havre
- 2:00 PM — Conkrete Parkour, mapped walk · Le Havre
- 2:30 PM — Les Gobelins, construction site tour (sold out) · Le Havre
Sunday, October 11, 2026
- 10:00 AM — Groynes and pebbles, a rampart against coastal risks, tour · Le Havre
- 10:00 AM — Cordée, three-voice choreographic port hike · Le Havre
- 10:00 AM — Embracing the horizon, workshop · Le Havre
- 10:00 AM — Watching Le Havre, bike tour in the port · Le Havre
- 2:30 PM — The Bird Tower, tour · Sainte-Opportune-la-Mare
Each activity lasts approximately 1.5 hours and requires online registration, subject to availability (source: festivalzigzag.fr/agenda, accessed August 23, 2026).
Prices Zigzag Festival 2026
Practical information — Zigzag Festival
The festival takes place across several towns in the Seine Valley, from the Paris region to Le Havre. Each activity has its own specific location, which is provided on the event page upon registration.
All outings are free, but online registration is mandatory as spaces are limited. The organizer, the Maison de l'architecture de Normandie – le Forum, is headquartered at 48 rue Victor Hugo in Rouen.
Where does it take place — Zigzag Festival
Zigzag Festival in brief
Other festivals near Rouen
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