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  Calendar of Events

Every town and village in the Gers organise events, festivals and celebrations, some an integral part of local history, others more recent excuses to attract tourism, but all joyous occasions well worth attending.  

To help you organise your holiday, we set out below the major events which are a part of the annual calendar of the Gers.  This does not include local fêtes which take place throughout the summer holidays.

Month Event Comments
February Regional Agricultural Fair, Barcelone-sur-Gers the fair lasts for three days and includes everything from major machinery, to livestock, fairground, brocante and craft and produce stalls.
February Exposition des Oiseaux,  Auch two days for the regional bird show - everything from exotic birds to local breeds
March to September Hippodromes at Auch, Castéra-Verduzan and Fleurance opening of the horse race and trotting season in the area; meetings take place in March, August and September and are very enjoyable for enthusiasts and amateur punters alike.  Every racecourse offers lunch - good value and fun - see their website.
April Festival National de Film d'animation, Auch 5 day film festival
May to  September  

Exhibitions at Château de Lavardens - 

 

Each year finds different exhibitions in the marvellous surroundings of the Château.  2008 saw the return of the superb sculptures of Camille Claudel and previous years have seen the works of Dali, the sculptures of Daphne du Barry and magnificent tapestries from Aubusson.  2009 - the chateau hosted an exhibition of ceramics, christmas santons and astronomy.  From 15 May to 5 September 2010 there will be an exhibition of art glass entitled 'le Verre dans tout son éclat'; see www.chateaulavardens.com
June Fêt'a'Pavie, Pavie the four day fête of our local village - bonfires, fireworks, side shows, boule contests, openair restaurants and live music into the small hours.
June - last three weekends 2010 Festival de Musique , Auch, 'Eclats de Voix a ten day festival of the voice in venues around the region - Auch Cathedral, the Cistercian abbey at Flaran, the Mairie theatre in Auch -  from baroque to the Beatles - see www.eclatsdevoix.com.  
July 13th to 18th 2010 Country Music Festival at Mirande second weekend of July - country music festival with performers from around the globe. 2010 will see Alison Arngrim from 'The little house in the prairie' as godmother of the festival - see www.country-musique.com.   Line dancing, 4+4 rally, hot air ballooning and many other attractions - a great Festival.
July 22nd to 25th 2010 Tempo Latino at Vic-Fezensac three day festival of salsa and other latin music.    Concerts as well as music in the street at all hours - see www.tempo-latino.com
July Festival of Caribbean music at Vic Fezensac a smaller music festival but no less enjoyable!
July Wakeboard Championships of France, Marciac a must if this is your passion.
May to September Novillada at Vic-Fezensac and elsewhere the opening of the bullfighting season in the area takes place over the Pentecost weekend in May.  A 'passion' for many Gascons, tickets are difficult but not impossible to obtain.  There are arenas in 21 Gersoise villages and events throughout the summer showing both the traditional bullfighting and 'course landaise', the latter more light-hearted where the bulls are not killed.
July -  September Festival l'été photographique de Lectoure the festival takes the form of workshops, conferences and an exhibition of photography - see www.lectoure.fr
July Fête Médiévale at Larressingle held in this gem of a fortified medieval village, the festival recreates life in the middle ages, complete with working siege machines - 4th weekend in July - see http://larressingle.free.fr/ 
July Danse à Flaran, Valance-sur-Baïse a three day festival of dance which takes place at the magnificent 12th century Cistercian Abbaye de Flaran, like many of the monuments of the Gers, a stopping place for the pilgrims to Compostello - see www.fources.fr/abbayeflaran
July Rock'in Condom a two day festival of rock music.
30th July to 15th August 'JIM' - Jazz in Marciac 

Programme and tickets available from April.

2010 programme includes Diana Krall, Jamie Calum, Ahmad Jamal, Marcus Miller, Didier Lockwood, Richard Galliano, McCoy Tyner, Roberto Fonseca, John Zorn and many others

 

Taking place during the first two weeks of August, this is an internationally renowned festival of Jazz attracting such names as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nina Simone, George Coleman, Oscar Peterson and the 'godfather' of the festival, Wynton Marsalis of whom there is now a statue in the town.  Ticketed concerts every day in the big top and arena and 'free' jazz and master classes all day in the town square. Just being there is a great experience! For further information, see  www.jazzinmarciac.com
August - 1st week 19th Marionette Festival at Mirepoix and surrounding villages.  Bus takes you to various sites in the villages.  Marionette market and workshops as well as performances.   A favorite with the children
August   Festival International du Ciel et de l'Espace at Fleurance Now in its 20th year, this festival is a week of conferences, workshops and hands-on astronomy.  It takes place at the Centre of Astronomy for the region at Fleurance which is linked to the  Observatory and Astronomy Centre at Pic-du-Midi in the Pyrénées, opened to the public in 2000.  Includes sessions at the Hameau d'etoiles, an isolated village where you can star-watch with the sky unpolluted by town lights - see www.festival-astronomie.com.
August  Musiques Médiévales at Sarrant 7 day celebration of music from the middle ages - openair concerts and ancient & choral music in the church - see www.sarrant.com/festival.
September Grand Prix Auto at Albi The most important of the car race meetings at Albi which, together with the race circuit at Nogaro, holds meetings throughout the year.
September Festival Médiévale at Roquelaure three day festival of everything from the 'dark ages' including floodlit theatre against the imposing backdrop of the old village, plus side shows, performers, contests, openair eating and much more.
September EXPO Gascogne, Auch regional agricultural and trade fair
September Horse race meeting, Auch the biggest race meeting of the season at the Auch Hippodrome, including the climax of the 'trotting' races - for details of this meeting and others throughout the year see - http://www2.lescourseshippiques.com/hippodrome/609/auch.html 
October Indépendance et Création, Auch four day film festival with over 30 films and round-table discussions.
October/ November CIRCA - Festival du cirque actuel 10 day festival of circus with performers from around the world, including students of the many circus schools and 'pop circus' which is available to all school children see www.circuits-circa.com/home.

updated March 2010