On 22-23 August 2026, Corsica’s festivals and village feast days fill both departments: In Cantu sings a cappella in Ajaccio, Giuncheto reaches its 140th edition, Cinetica screens animation in Bastia.
Nine dates this weekend, from Cap Corse to Bonifacio.
The village feast days of Cauro, Giuncheto and Sant’Antonino open on Saturday 22 August, Barrettali’s the following day. Around them, the island’s long summer cycles keep running: the a cappella polyphony of In Cantu in Ajaccio, the animated film festival Cinetica in Bastia, the open-air theatre season on the Porto-Vecchio waterfront.
In Cantu at the San Ruchellu church in Ajaccio
From 2 to 31 August, the In Cantu ensemble gives Ajaccio a cycle of a cappella Corsican polyphony concerts. Evenings take place on rue du Cardinal Fesch, in the San Ruchellu church, known as Petit Saint-Roch, and the weekend of 22 August falls right in the middle of the run.
No instruments.
The repertoire stays purely vocal, on two sides. The sacred first, with the masses of Sermanu, Rusiu and Sartène. The secular next, paghjelle above all.
That mix is unusual. The ensemble brings together singers from established Corsican groups and others trained in opera, two worlds that rarely share a programme.
Concerts are given in the intimacy of the church, a few metres from the audience: the format has more of the drawing room than the concert hall about it, and it holds the Ajaccio calendar until 31 August.
Three or four days is the usual length of a Corsican summer date. In Cantu holds a full month, in the same church, on the same repertoire.
Four village feast days and animated film in Bastia
Founded in 1887, the Fête de Giuncheto holds its 140th edition from 22 to 25 August. The Fête de Cauro, born in 1935, reaches its 92nd and takes over the village from 22 to 24 August.
Further north, the Fête de Sant’Antonino lines up its 41st edition from 22 to 24 August, having started in 1986, while the Fête de Barrettali takes over on Sunday 23 for two days, with 118 editions behind it since 1909.
Four villages, close to four hundred editions between them.
The arithmetic works out in all four cases: one edition a year since the first, with no blank year.
The patronal feast day remains the dominant format of a Corsican summer, and the weekend of 22 August carries four at once, in small communes kept well away from the big billings of Ajaccio and Bastia. Giuncheto goes back to 1887, Barrettali to 1909, the two oldest of the set.
In Bastia, Cinetica runs its 53rd edition from 21 to 24 August, devoted to animated film, at the Arcades du Théâtre on rue César Campinchi. The event dates back to 1974 and covers both weekend days.