Events & Festivals in Brittany

A feast for your ears!

With the help of noise-maker and sound-explorer Pascal Ayerbe, three musicians work with unique and unusual instriments: a musical saw, fans, a mandonin, balloons and a squeaky baton… From this chaos, a strange but harmonious orchestra emerges - a feast for your ears!

Inside the coffers of France's cathedrals…

Just a mention of the word "treasure" will set off an cascade of jewels and gold coins in our imaginations, all the more fascinating because they are inaccessible. The treasures of the clergy are all these things at once. With mostly objects from the Christian liturgy, such as chalices, patens, ciboriums and vases, but also ecclesiastic garments and manuscripts.
A few other items may be of interest, such as royal emblems and unusual objects, but it is relics of the saints - which drove myriad believers to attempt pilgrimage - which are the heart of this treasure.

These objects were kindly lent by the Vannes Cathedral, the churches of the Morbihan region and the Vanne Museum's collections.

A festive event upon the high seas!

Two days of intense activities throughout the whole of France, the Fête du Nautisme, or "Nautical Festival", will take over coastal regions as well as lake and river-sides. Young and old, landlubbers and trained sailors alike, are all invited to take to the waters for an exciting weekend.
This will be a great opportunity to discover some of the many nautical activities that are around, to test a particular product and, most importantly, to share your passion with actual seamen and professionals who are sailing the high seas every day.

The mindscape of Matisse, black on white.

While the undisputed master of the chromatic, Henri Matisse found in "black and white" an artistry that was aligned with his eternal search for simplicity and purity - two elements that are characteristic of his art. You will discover throughout the "Henri Matisse, au fil de la ligne - gravures" exhibition that, as an engraver, Matisse explored the themes that he did in painting.

Black, white, and the myriad shades of grey are all that he required to express anything - be it a face, a nude, an interior, a treetop, swimming fish or a bowl of fruit… The mindscape of Matisse is there for our enjoyment, black on white, white on black, and all the shades in between.

Where once ruled the Dukes of Brittany

Let the guide-lecturer tell you the story of the ancient capital where once ruled the Dukes of Brittany, its fortified walls and timber-framed houses. You can also discover the old-fashioned, classical hotels and majestic XIXth Century buildings which remind us that Vannes was once home to the exiled Brittany Parliament.

The beauty of leisure-sailing.

The Rendez-vous de la Belle Plaisance is three days of regattas and festivities in Bénodet during which a number of classic yachts and sailing boats from the Atlantic coast, the Channel and other seas are gathered to celebrate leisure sailing and boat-culture.

This "Belle Plaisance" festival is for yachts designed and built in the spirit of "belle plaisance" ("beautiful leisure-craft"). There is no size restriction and craft are divided into a number of classes.

The maturity of Mozart…

Mozart's first "mature" opera The Marriage of Figaro continues to astound audiences with a firework display of divine music and compelling narrative. It is a pleasant muddle of star-crossed lovers caught in confusing love-triangles.

Events take place just before the Revolution - it is the story of one particular day in a château, a day of crisis, a day when time passes too quickly. The text is rich, an example of verve and style, revealing undercurrents of class conflict, issues of gender and equality. The story unfolds with acerbic wit, subtle character interplay, and shows us the insanity of desire and love, the mad alchemy of infatuation and bitter resentment…

See the art and culture under the stars…

Museum Night is an example of the democratisation of culture and learning - museums will, for one night, be permitted to open their doors free of charge for nocturnal visits. These original outings will be a unique opportunity for people who don't generally visit museums, the young in particular, to discover the rich diversity of France's museum collections.

Certain museums, while primarily exhibition spaces, will provide visitors with a number of scheduled activities: meetings, performances, readings, workshops, etc. The various types of these Museums' collections include ancient, modern and contemporary art, archeology, decorative art, photography, scence and technology, anthropology, civil and military history, and rural and industrial heritage…

Art and the business world.

Cultural life in Rennes will have an additional artistic event to give the city a greater cultural presence than it already has. May 2008 will be the birth date of the very first edition of the Rennes Workshops: Valeures Croisées (or Crossed Values) - this contemporary art event will be centred on the relationship between art and the business world.
Numerous pieces will be exhibited: some specially created for the event by artists in Breton companies and some from public and private collections.
Altogether, over 60 French and international artists will be pesenting their artwork in seven artistically-significant locations throughout the city, including the Jacobean Convent.

Flowers in the landscape.

This event is traditionally located in the château's courtyard and on the Lamennais esplanade. It attracts a large public every year that comes to admire the handiwork of about 50 florists, landscape artists and nurserymen from the area.

A lyrical fantasy.

With the help of a strange Indian fakir, a young girl pretends to be the reincarnation of a cat who belonged to the boy she intends to marry… The plot is simple, the melodies are enchanting and the duets and fantasy ensembles make this a light but highly-entertaining event for the whole family.

With a subtle mise en scène and an excellent piano score to accompany the performance, this classical concert brings us the impulsiveness and subtlety that are characteristic of Offenbach's work.

An army of painters in Saint Malo.

A diamond among jewels… This justly describes the Solidor Tower in the Saint-Servan-sur-Mer quarter of Saint-Malo. It is a place of ever-shifting colours, a place where history left its mark carved deep into the stone. Locals are happy to enjoy their warm micro-climate and sea-breeze in a place they know is quite unlike any other - a place where wild, untamed natural beauty inspired many a poet and painter.

Over 500 artists from the whole of France and greater Europe will be in Saint-Malo for this Solidor en Peinture festival. They will be working on 500 pieces inspired by this magical setting, 500 live and uncut moments of artistic creation...

Natural inspiration

Common subjects, the eternal themes of the sky and the sea have served generations of painters who found in these elements an endless variety of nuance and color. The exhibit promises to be rich in diversity, styles, movements, and that, in part, can be attributed to the fact that for the occasion, the Morlaix museum will recuperate a number of major works that are on lend to the Fine Arts museum of Vannes.

A festive event upon the high seas!

Two days of intense activities throughout the whole of France, the Fête du Nautisme, or "Nautical Festival", will take over coastal regions as well as lake and river-sides. Young and old, landlubbers and trained sailors alike, are all invited to take to the waters for an exciting weekend.
This will be a great opportunity to discover some of the many nautical activities that are around, to test a particular product and, most importantly, to share your passion with actual seamen and professionals who are sailing the high seas every day.

Nature reclaims the hidden banks of the Vincin

Just a little south of Vannes around the Vincin estuary there is a hidden garden of Eden. Discover a mosaic of landscapes where land and sea blend, where for thirty years the flora and fauna have reclaimed what is rightfully theirs.
Mudflats and salt meadows seamlessly give way to Breton heaths, providing an ideal natural habitat for numerous migratory and sedentary species of birds.

Digging into the past

For 20 years now, archeological research has been taking place at Mez Notario, located at the center of the Isle of Ouessant. The site and the dig have been managed by Jean-Paul Le Bihan, director of the Finistère Center for Archeological Research (CRAF), which called upon 400 professional and civilian diggers to help bring to light some amazing finds about the origins of Ouessant.

The Armoric Regional Natural Park and the CRAF have organized an exhibit which retraces the history of the digs at Mez Notario to be presented at the Museum of "Phares and Balises." Numerous objects plus articles from the planning stages and several models will be on display. Visitors will be able to easily reconstruct the history of this fascinating island with the materials to be presented. A project that took 20 years to bring to the surface!

Choirboys and choirgirls light up the city of Vannes.

Choir singing is the centrepiece of this festival - the objective is to promote it, to make it available to a wider public. Workshops, open-day events and concerts with ensembles from the conservatory and local choirs will be scheduled throughout the city and at the Carmes Auditorium for this event.

A festive event upon the high seas!

Two days of intense activities throughout the whole of France, the Fête du Nautisme, or "Nautical Festival", will take over coastal regions as well as lake and river-sides. Young and old, landlubbers and trained sailors alike, are all invited to take to the waters for an exciting weekend.
This will be a great opportunity to discover some of the many nautical activities that are around, to test a particular product and, most importantly, to share your passion with actual seamen and professionals who are sailing the high seas every day.

The New World Symphony - a song for travellers.

This major work is one of the most moving musical representations of the mythical New World, a symbol of hope, dreams and conquest.
Yet, at the very heart of this symphony lies a tension, a feeling of being torn between the discovery of a new place and the world which is left behind.

A graphic artist

Well known throughout Rennes for his work on the posters for Transmusicals and the Tombées de Nuit, this exhibit proposes an in depth look at the work of Bernard Collet from the 1980s at the start of his career to present day.

The retrospective will offer a precise look into the production of the artist with nearly 90% of the displayed works coming from the personal collection of the artist. Among the pieces to be presented, will be sketches, models, photocopies, photographs, and constructions.

The exhibit has been arranged so that even the youngest visitors will have easy access to the work. Finally, there will also be the opportunity to discover some of the artists illustrations for books!

Water-colors.

Organized and seperated from other pieces in his body of work, Olivier Debré's 30 paintings to be exhibited are proof of the artist's genius. Debré, deceased in 1999, was particulary attached to the theme of water, for its unpredictible nature, rich in nuance and in movement. His technique and sticking choices of composition are two of the major defining characteristics of his work.

Aye-Aye Capt'n!

This major nautical event, a veritable sailing festival, takes place every four years. For sea-faring folk this networking hub is a great opportunity to meet others in the profession from all over the world.

For all those who are not so familiar with concepts such as "starboard and port", then this is the perfect place to learn about maritime life in a friendly, festive ambiance.

An artistic crossroad

Established in 2003, the Printemps des Arts or Springtime of the Arts targets people from all walks of life. The festival is multidisciplary, allowing the public to experience photography, fine arts, documents and musical interludes, all of which revolve around a common theme.
This event takes place in the La Briantais château and surrounding park.

The mindscape of Matisse, black on white.

While the undisputed master of the chromatic, Henri Matisse found in "black and white" an artistry that was aligned with his eternal search for simplicity and purity - two elements that are characteristic of his art. You will discover throughout the "Henri Matisse, au fil de la ligne - gravures" exhibition that, as an engraver, Matisse explored the themes that he did in painting.

Black, white, and the myriad shades of grey are all that he required to express anything - be it a face, a nude, an interior, a treetop, swimming fish or a bowl of fruit… The mindscape of Matisse is there for our enjoyment, black on white, white on black, and all the shades in between.

Aquatic dancing…

"In 1985, Anne Frémy took a risk by asking various performers to take their creative tools, equipment and ideas, and throw them in the pool. A few dancers ended up at the National sport institute in Paris for some subaquatic training, and a new concept was born. In 1986, the Astrakan company took part in an artist-in-residence program in Angers, more specifically in the Jean Bouin swimming pool, working on an unusual underwater performance entitled Waterproof.

"This was a peculiar period for contemporary dance in France as it strove take over public spaces, making everything a potential stage. To celebrate the 20-year anniversary of this spectacle, as suggested by Pascale Henrot (co-director of the festival Paris quartier d'été), I decided to revisit Waterproof. I contacted my team from two decades ago along with a number of other dancers, all of which agreed instantly. Working intensely on body language in an aquatic environment led to experimenting with unusual vectors, discovering new ways of sensing, of moving in a completely different element.

"To reclaim the project (which is the only one of its kind in my career) was to relive those experiences and in doing so to relive the evolution of contemporary dance - Waterproof was a significant movement in dance culture at the time.

"Waterproof resonates with sounds of war, of struggling with the alien element known as water, and in doing so reveals a manner of breathing, of moving… While the film was immensely popular, few have seen the actual production. Time for a reality check, 20 years later."

Daniel Larrieu

Around the ancient city of Saint-Malo

Over a thousand joggers will be on the starting line. The track will be a tough 5,7 kilometres on the city ramparts. It will be a great opportunity to sweat and build muscle, all the while visiting some of Saint-Malo's age-old paths, the very arteries of an ancient city.

A river runs while you float along…

From Quimper to Bénodet, or the other way round, it doesn't matter which direction you take for this kayak excursion, you will get a panoramic view of the area's rich natural and historical heritage.
Châteaux, manors, flora and fauna… Going down the Odet will allow you to discover beautiful places from a unique perspective.

A hymn to life, from reggae to a firey waltz.

Galliano caused a major disruption in traditional music by lifting the accordion from a popular, country register to a respected, jazz-master level . He is the master of jazz-style accordion music and the inventor of a completely new "musette" (an old-style french ball where accordion was played). With his new album, Luz Negra, Galliano takes the listener on a borderless journey into his musical universe.

Inspired by the work of his mentor, Astor Piazzola, his album delivers an expressive, stunning hymn to life, going from boléro to samba and from reggae to a couple of firey waltzes. With an homage to his long-time partner Barbara and a new version of Erik Satie's gentle masterpiece, Gnosienne, his record is truly a work of art.

The hottest rollerblading event of the century!

For the past 26 years, Rennes sur Roulettes (or "Rennes on Rollerblades") has been celebrating the Fête du Roller, a convivial and popular sporting event, completely free of charge.
The program includes a number of group rollerblading strolls, an event from the speed-skating World Cup, acrobatic skater stunts, a street contest, initiation workshops, conferences, and many more activities...

Art by night.

In light of the success of the first Museum Night, the tradition continues again this year with more than one thousand museums across France and Europe participating in the all night cultural event. The festival is a chance to visit museums for free - and view art in a completely new way! There are debates, conferences and special exhibitions to ensure that you get the most out of your late-night visit.

Young talents by the dozen!

The Young Fashion Designer Festival is back for a new edition. Every year the event puts a few young local and international designers in the spotlight.
The festival is an opportunity for them to meet professionals in their field, to show the world their work for a few days, and even to organise their own fashion show on the catwalk.

Two-wheel party!

The à vélo dans Saint-Malo association and the Saint-Malo town hall are inviting all cyclists and occasional riders to join together for a festive tour of the city! Late-comers will be able to join the pack at different meeting points and track stages in various neighbourhoods throughout the city.

A top-class Celtic music festival.

Originally organized in Brest but now in Lorient, the Celtic Festival THE event for Celtic musicians and artists. Every year, 4500 artists and groups from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, the Isle of Man, Cornwall, Asturias, Galicia and Brittany perform at the festival.
On the program there will be all kinds of Celtic music - traditional, classical, folk, jazz and rock. The lively program also features dancers, painters, sculptors, writers, film directors and lecturers who will be showing off their talents at various venues all over town and providing the 500000 spectators with quality entertainment.
Highlights of the festival include the Celtic Nations Parade , the Triumph of the Celtic Countries, Magic Nights, (an evening of fireworks, dancing and music), Bagpipes Night, and the "Cotriade", which will open the festival. This year's special guest is Asturia in Spain. Don't miss this lively celebration of Celtic culture.

Discover your inner-sailor…

For all sailing enthusiasts who love the sea and the beach, the Nautical festival is coming through Saint-Malo this year. Numerous beach activities are scheduled: seashell painting, exploring the coastline, sailing and nautical activities for first-timers. Both young and old will be thrilled by the array of activities and events.

A festive event upon the high seas!

Two days of intense activities throughout the whole of France, the Fête du Nautisme, or "Nautical Festival", will take over coastal regions as well as lake and river-sides. Young and old, landlubbers and trained sailors alike, are all invited to take to the waters for an exciting weekend.
This will be a great opportunity to discover some of the many nautical activities that are around, to test a particular product and, most importantly, to share your passion with actual seamen and professionals who are sailing the high seas every day.

Shark attack!

If the shark is a great source of fear for many in the world, there are just as many cultures out there that respect the it. With its reputation for bloody and savage attacks mythified in movies, and regular reports of individuals escaping harrowing encounters, the shark pays dearly for its notorious way of life. Nevertheless, sharks are an integral part of the marine ecosystem. Caught between myth and fact, this exhibit sheds light on the real role of sharks!

To assemble, condense, stockpile or displace…

Raphaëlle de Groot's workfields are as varied as the types of things he manages to create. His projects, and the resulting works of art (installations, videos and even performances) are an exploration of group dynamics - these groups are as different from each other as can be: religious congregations, social service associations or even workers in a textile factory…
He is something between architect, sculptor and performer, or perhaps he is all three at once. Séverine Hubard, his teammate during the Chantiers (or "Construction Sites") exhibition, described his work as the "creation of materialisation and dematerialisation mechanisms".
De Groot recycles construction material or uses kits to assemble, condense, stockpile or displace… A truly contemporary artist working in an artform that defies categorisation.

The magic of celtic music - 360°

Over 25 000 spectators gave them a standing ovation in 2007 - the people of Rennes were completely won over by the magical performance of La Nuit Interceltique. Driven on by this popularity, the stadium's team and the Interceltic 3C association are working together to bring you another "Interceltic Night".

This 2008 edition, with a new mise en scène, will strive for more intensity, more surprises, and a great atmosphere so you can jig to your heart's content to the sound of celtic magic.
Musicinans and performers will be centre-stadium on a large stage designed to be seen by every single spectator wherever he or she may be sitting, so that everyone can have the best possible time.

After the "Breizh Parade" on the Champs Elysées, at the Stade de France and Bercy, Interceltic 3C together with the Lorient Interceltic Festival wish you the best of times discovering or rediscovering the Interceltic Night in Rennes.

A subtle blend.

Pista flamenca is a subtle blend of flamenco culture and circus arts. The Cirque Perdu (or "Lost Circus") will take you on a magical journey to a place where acrobatics and dancing combine to give the audience a show of strength and grace.

Two worlds, so completely different and yet the same in their attempt to convey emotion, are combined to provide a fantastic experience…

The Vieilles Charues festival was born from a social issue. It was born when an entire community decided to get to work and show the people of Centre Ouest Bretagne (Midwestern Brittany) that their département wasn't just lifeless dead-end backcountry… This wasn't just a festival, it was a way to put COB on the map forever! Local people took things into their own hands and decided to make a difference, to stop the economic and cultural desert that was threatening to overwhelm their world.

It is interesting to note that this music festival was, in its early stages, a festival that had nothing to do with music… It all started out with a fair on the waterfront, with a bit of music, a LOT of country-bumpkin cheer, some serious red meat (no less than bison steaks) and old-style games such as the shoe-toss or the inimitable "plough-pulling competition"…

Things grew from there, and now the festival is a cultural event with undertones of a charity organisation - to participate is of course to have fun, but it is also an example in economic solidarity. Thanks to you, and others, over 200 000 people attend the festival every year.

See the art and culture under the stars…

Museum Night is an example of the democratisation of culture and learning - museums will, for one night, be permitted to open their doors free of charge for nocturnal visits. These original outings will be a unique opportunity for people who don't generally visit museums, the young in particular, to discover the rich diversity of France's museum collections.

Certain museums, while primarily exhibition spaces, will provide visitors with a number of scheduled activities: meetings, performances, readings, workshops, etc. The various types of these Museums' collections include ancient, modern and contemporary art, archeology, decorative art, photography, scence and technology, anthropology, civil and military history, and rural and industrial heritage…

Images of the abyss.

The International Ocean Photography Festival is a photographical journey through the emblematic areas of Vannes' natural heritage. Free of charge, the event is an invitation to appreciate the symbiotic connection between the picture and the place. In 2007, the festival welcomed more than 150 000 visitors in a single month.

Scheduled for the 2008 edition, 16 exhibits (spread over 6 different sites, 4 of which are outdoors) will show you the sea through the eyes of photographers from all over the world. There will be 400 pictures to admire, and a number of on-site specialists to inform visitors of the value of this heritage and the photographers' work methods.

The magical curiosity of a child.

The cause for this event: a place. The book-lined walls of Château-Gaillard, a place filled with mysteriously locked cupboards, bring to mind a society of intellectuals and their obsessive collections - that was more than enough to convince Jean-Luc Parant to recreate his own personal collection of curious things…
His fake-libraries are home to strange books, crafted from wax, with words rolled up into little balls, and writing tablets covered with embossed symbols that one longs to touch… The curious aspect of this collection echoes the obscure 19th century "savant" journals that sit along side it.

Jean-Luc Parant is a curious man. He has been worrying clay since the 70's when he decided that, with this primal, eternal element, he could conquer the world. The erudite scholars of history share with Parant that ambition to embrace the universe as a whole, to collect treasures. Unusual animals, or the perfect shape of an egg - worth their weight in gold, Parant recreates them himself, crafting clay to trick the eye. Deep down, Jean-Luc Parant has that elusive trait of character that once killed the colloquial cat..

The work of an artist in exile.

Kurt Weill was a Berlin-based musician working with Bertold Brecht who was forced to flee to Paris, and then New York, after having been registered by the Nazis. This particular piece, in three languages, is thus of great interest, using the popular musical and theatrical traditions of both the old and the new world.

Over 2,000 years of history...

Corseul is the oldest town in the département. Founded in around the year 10 B.C., capital of the Coriosoliti, an Armorican tribe, Corseul offers an introduction to Gallo-Roman civilisation in Armorica through some of its ancient remains.
1.5km from the centre, on the Dinan road, an ancient wall some ten metres high bears witness to Courseul's importance in remote times.
Before this wall of the cella, the room in which the stature of the divinity used to stand, there once stretched a vast expanse of buildings, covering over a hectare and surrounding a vast closed courtyard where the faithful come to pray at the temple would gather.
Mars was probably the deity worshipped in this sanctuary but no inscription has been discovered that would provide absolute proof.

As you will see, the ancient town of Fanum Martis (Corseul) was organised around a network of streets covering over 100 hectares, crossing at right angles and delineating quarters, each with its own activity: urban dwellings, shops and businesses, temples, baths, etc. Near the present-day town hall, archaeologists have unearthed an entire commercial complex in the main street of the town, lined by a gallery of porticoes. The site, which goes by the name of Monterfil, has now been reconstructed.

Between land and sea.

Just 10 minutes from the beaches of the Côte d'Emeraude, on the banks of the River 'Arguenon, the "pretty village" referred to by Chateaubriand has become a lively and attractive town, famous for its mineral water.
Minerals and literature are not the whole of it: there is history, too, in the 19th century church of Saint-Sauveur, harmonious neo-Romanesque building.
The church is dedicated to Saint Sauveur, even though the patron saint of the parish is Saint Florian.
As you make your way through the narrow lanes, note the 16th century half-timbered and encorbelled house.

Try out an organic market with 100% natural products.

As you stroll around the Sainte-Thérèse quarter, try some of the organic products for their quality and taste.

The Sainte-Thérèse market is sure to be selling its famous artichokes and cauliflowers and, if you happen to be there at the right time of year, maybe even the famous Coco de Paimpol white beans.

A wildfowl reserve.

Off Perros-Guirec, the archipelago of the Sept Iles (seven islands) makes up the largest wildfowl reserve in France.
The archipelago is home to 27 species of nesting bird including 13 species of sea bird, making a total of over 20,000 nesting pairs.

The seven islands are Rouzic, Malban, les Costans, Bono, l'Ile-aux-Moines, l'Ile-Plate and Le Cerf.
This group of rocky islets has been a protected site since 1912 and was designated a nature reserve in 1977.
Imagine hundreds of Atlantic Puffins, Northern Gannets, European Shags, Razorbills, Common Guillemots, Northern Fulmars, Great Black-backed gulls, Herring gulls and Lesser Black-backed gulls nesting in hollows in the rocks.
The island of Rouzic is home to France's only colony of Northern Gannets.