Brittany's main events

Who will win the ‘Hitchcock d’or’ (Golden Hitchcock) award? Every year, the same unbearable feeling of suspense hangs over the ‘croisette’ at Dinard. The Festival du Film Britannique has made Alfred Hitchcock its mascot for this very original festival of the ‘seventh’ art.

This is certainly a square on Brittany’s calendar of cultural events that’s well filled. The last weekend in October is when 400 comic strip artists get together at the Quai des Bulles Festival.

It didn’t take long for Mettre en Scène to become an obligatory staging-post in the world of creative theatre and dance. Amazing productions attended by hordes of enthusiasts.

A leading light of the modern music scene, every winter for the last 30 years, the Transmusicales in Rennes, has given us a taste of the musical trends of tomorrow. Groups come here in the hope of making their last ‘anonymous’ performance before receiving unanimous acclaim from the critics.

Forget April showers, just join the long queue of festival-goers, all keen to enjoy the unrivalled view of today’s rich musical landscape provided by the Panoramas Festival.

Every Easter, the Easter eggs are hidden, but the single hulls an be seen in broad daylight at the Spi Ouest-France Regatta. A real treat for anyone who loves a regatta.

Concerts, exhibitions, fest-noz, markets… Since 2009, the whole region has been showing the world how dynamic and up-to-date it can be, at the Festival of Brittany. Here’s your chance to take a new look at the biniou koz (Breton: ‘the old bagpipe’).

You can recognise them by their loose-limbed stride, the 5,000 runners from all over the world who elbow their way through the pack at the start of the Mont-Saint-Michel Marathon. It’s a race against the clock – or rather, against the sea – so they don’t have much time to admire the scenery, which is a pity, because it’s a World Heritage Site.

Since 1979, every Whit weekend, the Art Rock Festival has been offering a mix of different artistic genres and making Saint-Brieuc sparkle. Pop music and contemporary art, circuses and videos... The unique St-Brieuc recipe is a closely guarded secret.

For the last 20 years, the ‘grandchildren of Stevenson and Conrad’ have got into the excellent habit of meeting below the ramparts of Saint-Malo. Flying where its fancy takes it and wherever the wind may carry it, each year, in May, the Étonnants Voyageurs Festival invites us all to take part in a great literary adventure.

A unique journey over the 60 kilometres between Nantes and Saint-Nazaire, the biennial Estuaire festival combines water and contemporary art. Invention, initiative and ingenuity are the key words for this festival.

Whether the shots are in black and white or in colour, green is always a major player at the Peuples & Nature Photo Festival in La Gacilly. Focusing specifically on the environment, this is an arts event that fully intends to become part of the landscape.

The Tombées de la Nuit Festival is like no other. It’s the only one that can combine an operatic chef d’œuvre with the chef’s hors-d’œuvre at opening time. The only one that juggles music recitals with circus performances. At this festival, no matter what others may think, it’s form that counts as much as matter, because here they think that that’s what matters. 

Since its inception in 2008, Les Ateliers de Rennes, a biennial contemporary arts festival, has endeavoured to make this art form – often considered elitist and hardgoing – more accessible. At the Couvent des Jacobins, in both the cultural areas and in public spaces, contemporary art takes over the town.

With some 272 edifices classified as Historical Monuments, behind its city walls Vannes, the capital of Morbihan, hides a past charged with history. Every year at the Fêtes Historiques, the town proudly re-enacts its long life story.

With more than 2,500 boats from the four corners of the world, every four years a million visitors come to witness this incredible journey.

Although the line-up at the Vieilles Charrues (meaning 'old ploughs'!) changes every year, the festival still nurtures an undeniable mix, a wide variety of  musical styles in a relaxed atmosphere, bringing together both legendary groups and legends in the making. Five stages, 80 artists, 230,000 spectators... Over the last few years, the Vieilles Charrues has become one of the largest and most important European music festivals.

It is rather like looking out for the passage of a comet every so many years. Every six years the little village of Locronan is the setting for a quite unique phenomenon: a religious ceremony and procession of penitents, the Grande Troménie, which takes us way back into the past, to a time when there was no such thing as walking boots.

Although its theme is the Middle Ages, the Fête des Remparts is nonetheless very much of its time. Everyone, whether young or not-so-young, can enjoy taking part in this unusual role-play game, devised in 1983. And this landmark event in Bertrand Du Guesclin's home town looks just as much fun as ever.

Dedicated to the culture and diversity of Brittany, the Festival de Cornouaille is a horn of plenty as far as culture is concerned. Almost ninety years of age, and not a wrinkle in sight.

Every year, for the last 15 years, an electro revolution has been taking place near Brest. Astropolis brings together simply the ultimate in techno music and a festival that cruises along at 180bpm!

In Vannes nothing stops the jazz from swinging to the beat. For over 30 years now, this festival has been making the strings of swing sing out loud enough to wake Sleeping Beauty. We’re in Vannes, so just groove to the beat, man!

A completely unique experience: each summer, contemporary art and religious art come together with thought-provoking results.

From the magnificent surroundings to the renowned choirs, it’s hard to determine the best bit of the Lyrique en Mer Festival. Every summer, the great composers of classical music make a dream stopover at Belle-Île, and share the experience with as many visitors as possible. So what are you waiting for? Try a taste of opera.

Every year over 700,000 people climb aboard the Lorient Express. No crimes to solve here, but the cream of Celtic music to taste in a spirit of joy and good humour.

A melting pot, a friendly fusion, a group get-together. You get the idea: the Crozon music festival is as eclectic as they come. It may be taking place in Finistère, a name that means literally ‘land’s end’, but its panoramic programme places it at the very crossroads of contemporary music.

Every two years some 100,000 festival goers transform the quayside of Paimpol into a cheerful sea of life.

Every year for over a century, the Filets Bleus (Blue Fishing Nets) Festival at Concarneau has given people a chance to go back to the roots of local tradition. It’s a Breton-style procession in full colour and with no artificial preservatives.

Since its creation, the Route du Rock in Saint-Malo has been devoted to defending Anglo-Saxon pop-rock, and every year, around 15,000 festival goers sign up to defend the cause.

At the end of July, there’s a note of nostalgia in the sea air over the Baie de Morlaix. The mists of time clear to reveal a rich maritime history and what better way to find out more than a boat ride across the bay or a walk along the coast? As the past and present come together, so too does the sea and the land as sails billow with the breeze of memories.