Festivals - Limoux, Carcassonne, Mirepoix...

Carcassonne, Summer Festival Fireworks...

Every village in the region has their own type of festival in Summer, but the Carcassonne Festival is one of the major cultural events in the South of France and is now one of France's largest festivals with nearly 110 shows each year and more than 75 of them are free!

Here's a synopsis/program of what they have going on and here's an overview:

Throughout July, in the Cité and the Bastide St. Louis. A lot of the events are on the Place Carnot. The program has opera, theatre, dance, jazz, salsa, street theatre, country and western as well as other concerts, comedy and folklore.

In August a re-enactment of the days of the troubadours happens. Knights on horses in full costume, along with jugglers, gymnasts, dancers, acrobats, mime artists and musicians entertain with jousting and mayhem.

From mid-June to mid-September there's an organ festival with concerts on the great organ at the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire in the Cite. Concerts are free and take place every Sunday and on all public holidays.

On Bastille Day -14th July- the merry madness reaches its climax with a truly amazing firework display - the Cité looks like it's about to explode.

Here's a look at the year-round events:


Carnaval de limoux sortie de toutes les troupes mars 09

January to March: Limoux Carnaval (see the video above)

March :
Beginning of March - Dame Carcas Pig Fair, Carcassonne
Storytelling Festival, Limoux
End of March, there are the antique fairs, Carcassonne  
End of March or Early April - Wine festival Toques et Clochers

July: Carcassonne Festival (see above) 

August:
Period costume spectacle, Medieval City of Carcassonne
Puppet Festival, Mirepoix, Contact 04 68 31 54 67
Weekend in the middle to end of August: Vigne et Terroir festival

September:
Around the 6th September. The flea market in September is in the streets of La Trivalle.

October: 
Fete du Vin Primeur: A celebration of the wine harvest celebrated in the middle of the month



November:
St. Catherine' Fair on 25th November. Like all the fairs, there are arts and crafts and local produce on offer.


December, January and February:

Don't miss the eccentrically fun Truffle Festival in Villeneuve Minervois held one cold morning every year, with a pistol!
Sunday before Christmas:  Foie Gras Fair
Christmas market:  in the Place Carnot is great in an eccentrically magical kind of way with its stage, skating rink (3 Euro) with a big ice spectacular one of the evenings, fake icicles and snow on the fountain, Christmas trees and wooden stalls and a huge Ferris wheel with views of the town and Cite just outside the Bastide walls. There's sledging, the usual fireworks and many other things that make Christmas pretty memorable in Carcassonne, to say the least.

Please email us by clicking here if you know of any other festivals going on in the area and we'll update this post, or just leave a comment below the post. Thanks!