This October 10 weekend, more than 160 producers, craftsmen and food brotherhoods fill central Rouen for the Fête du Ventre, while Honfleur, Dieppe and Bellême hold their own festivals and events.
Saturday morning, in front of Rouen cathedral. On Place de la Cathédrale, the stalls of the Fête du Ventre open on 10/10/2026. This October 10 weekend, more than 160 producers, craftsmen and food brotherhoods fill central Rouen for the Fête du Ventre, while Honfleur, Dieppe and Bellême hold their own festivals and events.
The Fête du Ventre at the foot of the cathedral
The Fête du Ventre et de la Gastronomie Normande has gathered more than 160 producers, craftsmen and gastronomic brotherhoods in the historic centre of Rouen since 2001. Les Vitrines de Rouen organises it.
Saturday and Sunday, from about 10 am to 6 pm, entry is free.
The stalls take over the squares and streets around Notre-Dame cathedral, the Gros-Horloge and the Vieux-Marché square. Producers and craftsmen offer tastings, direct sales and demonstrations of their craft: camembert, livarot, pont-l'évêque and neufchâtel, farmhouse cider, perry, calvados and pommeau, scallops and bouchot mussels, andouille de Vire, Mortagne black pudding, Isigny cream and butter.
The brotherhoods parade in full regalia. Those of the Camembert, the Cider and the Chevaliers du Trou Normand lead induction ceremonies, between cooking workshops, chef demonstrations and live music.
Since 2021, Rouen has been the only French city in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for gastronomy.
From the port of Honfleur to the Bellême forest
The Vieux Bassin quays in Honfleur host the Festival of the Scallop and the Fishing: a seafood market, sea shanty concerts, demonstrations of fishing techniques, free entry. Born in 1994 as the Shrimp Festival, it was renamed when the brown shrimp declined in the Seine estuary. In Dieppe, Dieppe Festi-Vintage lines up vintage cars, motorbikes, trucks and tractors on the beach lawns, with a military camp, the election of Miss Festi-Vintage and concerts.
In Le Havre, a 47-metre catamaran serves as a museum. The Art Explora Festival moors it at the Bassin de l'Eure until October 11: an exhibition co-produced with the Louvre, sound design by Ircam and the Centre Pompidou, virtual reality, concerts and workshops, free access.
In the Orne, the Mycologiades Internationales de Bellême, founded in 1952, run from October 8 to 11. Guided outings in the state forest leave at 9 am from the Gué-de-la-Chaîne car park, the exhibition of collected species is free and the Truffe d'Or contest, open to under-25s, takes place on Saturday.
Along the Seine valley, Zigzag offers site visits and bike or boat trips around architecture until October 11, free but with online registration. The Maison de l'architecture de Normandie has coordinated it since 2019. In Bayeux, the Prix Bayeux Calvados-Normandy for War Correspondents, created in 1994, closes its week on October 11: photography exhibitions, screenings and public talks, free access. In La Ferté-Macé, the Street Art FMR Festival runs until October 12 around wall murals, which four artists in residence have painted live on the facades since 2013.
In Alençon, Livres & Davantage holds its book fair at the Halle aux Toiles, Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm, with signings, panel talks and readings. The festival was born in 2022 from the merger of the city's book fair and poetry festival. In Caen, the NDK Festival, heir to Nördik Impakt, continues its electronic culture programme at Le Cargö until October 11. Founded in Caen in 1999, it has been called NDK since 2021.
NDK club nights start at 15 euros, and the festival is for over-18s only.