Wattrelos turns carbonade flamande into a public celebration of Northern taste and memory. The competition brings cooks and visitors together around the slow-cooked beef-and-beer stew associated with the culinary landscape of French Flanders and Belgium. Held in Parc du Lion, the event highlights hearty food, beer-based cooking and recipes passed from household to household. Its appeal is not only the contest itself, but the way a familiar family dish becomes a marker of local pride, conviviality and Flemish-influenced food culture.
Topic: events
Fêtes de Kopierre in Aniche
The Fêtes de Kopierre are Aniche’s June celebration of a figure deeply attached to local folklore. Kopierre, the town’s generous-hearted giant, appears through a programme of music, brocante, decorated bicycles, gatherings and procession. The Sunday tribute to Alexandre Consil, known as Kopierre, gives the festival a personal memory as well as a festive one. In a region where giants remain central to public celebration, the event gives Aniche a distinctive place in the living folklore of the Nord and keeps a civic character moving through the streets.
Week-end Impérial at Château de Pierrefonds
Château de Pierrefonds becomes a Second Empire stage for a weekend devoted to Empress Eugénie, imperial music and historical spectacle. The setting matters: Pierrefonds is closely tied to Napoleon III, Eugénie and the court culture connected with nearby Compiègne. Visitors encounter the monument through performers, daytime activities and an evening Imperial Ball, making the architecture feel lived rather than distant. The event works as regional heritage because it links a famous Oise landmark with the political imagination, ceremony and courtly memory that shaped its modern identity.
Les Ducales de Guise – Medieval Festival at Château Fort de Guise
Les Ducales de Guise turn Château Fort de Guise into a medieval camp for a weekend of living history. Re-enactment groups animate the fortress with combat demonstrations, calligraphy, textile work, cooking, artillery, music and craft practices that make the site easier to read. The festival is rooted in the educational work of the Club du Vieux Manoir and in the strong fortress identity of Guise. It gives families and heritage visitors a concrete way to understand how military, civic and everyday life shaped one of the Aisne’s emblematic fortified places.
Fête médiévale d’Estourmel – Giant Reimbold Creton and Village Heritage
Estourmel’s medieval festival brings the village together around Rue Notre Dame for a day of heritage animation, costumes and craft stalls. Its most distinctive feature is the baptism of Reimbold Creton, a local giant presented as a symbolic protector of the town. That detail ties the event to the wider giant tradition of the Nord and the Cambrai area, where civic folklore still gives public celebrations a recognisable face. With a medieval village, artisan market, feudal banquet and music, the festival feels like a local story told through shared ritual rather than a simple themed fair.
Fête des Harengs in Seclin
Seclin’s Fête des Harengs places a humble Northern food symbol at the centre of a town celebration. The 2026 programme links music, flavours, craft stalls, family activities and a parade between the Hôtel de Ville and the Collégiale Saint-Piat. The presence of local giants gives the day a clear Hauts-de-France identity, joining food, civic procession and popular folklore in one route. It is a festival of public squares and shared memory, where herring becomes a simple but effective sign of local belonging.
30th Rendez-vous de la Bande Dessinée d’Amiens
The Rendez-vous de la Bande Dessinée d’Amiens is a long-running meeting point for comics, illustration and visual storytelling in the Somme capital. For its 30th edition, the festival gathers authors, exhibitions, youth formats, signings and conversations at Halle Freyssinet. The continuity matters: Amiens has built a recognisable place in the world of bande dessinée through the local association On a Marché sur la Bulle. It is contemporary culture with roots, public access and a clear city identity.