Nautical Procession 2016 Saint Omer (2)Nautical procession 2016 Saint Omer © P.hudelle, Balades En Audomarois (2)
©Marie-Groët at the Cortège Nautique of Saint-Omer|P.Hudelle, balades en audomarois

Calendar of the year's major events

The Pays de Saint-Omer beats to the rhythm of its events all year round, and each season welcomes its annual events. From major festivals to craft fairs, you’re likely to find the event that suits you.

JANUARY

Le Concert de la Morinie

Saint-Omer

With waltzes, polkas and furious gallops, the Orchestre de la Morinie offers you a traditional concert, the New Year’s Concert, at the very beginning of the year, in January, to get the new year off to a good start and, above all, with a good ear! A lyrical and majestic moment in Saint-Omer’s sumptuous Notre-Dame Cathedral.

APRIL

The Epeut'naerts

Moringhem

Epeut’naerts is the patois word for scarecrow. Every year in April, these strange creatures are set up all over the charming village of Moringhem, according to the whims and moods of its inhabitants, to perpetuate a fine tradition that goes back twenty years. A large bonfire is organized at the end of April to close the event with music and good cheer.

MAY

Sous les Pavés l'ART

Saint-Omer

One of the most popular events of the year. If the Epeutnaerts put a smile on your face, get ready to laugh here. The Festival Sous les Pavés, l’Art is organized by the association Le Sceau du Tremplin over the Pentecost weekend. It’s a festival of street art, and clowning in general. All the shows are funny, zany, absurd and sometimes even committed. It’s a free event, taking place at several sites and monuments, and a festival to enjoy with family and friends.

JUNE

But where are we going?

Fléchin

Another cultural and artistic highlight of the year, the Mais où va t-on? festival is an early June event to be enjoyed with family and friends!

With shows steeped in poetry and magic blending street art, circus, theater, puppetry, concerts, is a journey of the senses and consciences in the village of Fléchin and its rural setting.

BEGINNING JULY

Medieval Festival

Saint-Omer

Oyez Oyez! Damoiselles et Damoiseaux, get ready to feast! One of the most popular events for heroic fantasy fans and locals alike in the Pays de Saint-Omer. Dragons, Vikings, orcs and falconers bring the first weekend in July to life in Saint-Omer’s public gardens. Take a step back in time, and don’t miss out on the famous grilled pig or other delicacies!

JULY

Saint-Omer Jaaz Festival

Saint-Omer

It’s going to get jazzy in Saint-Omer! Jazz in all its forms: classical, New Orleans or fusion. In the most beautiful monuments of Saint-Omer and the Pays de Saint-Omer, beautiful sounds take to the skies, to the delight of music lovers. Organized by La Barcarolle, a cultural and artistic association, a whole region will be swinging during the second weekend in July!

END OF JULY

Le Cortège Nautique

Saint-Omer

The Cortège Nautique is a unique event and a tradition that has been going strong since the 1940s. To celebrate the end of the summer cauliflower planting season, emblematic of Saint-Omer, market gardeners, shopkeepers and associations build floats decorated with flowers on the water, with two parades, one of which takes place at night, with garlands, lights and torches.

EARLY SEPTEMBER

Andouille Festival

Aire-sur-la-Lys

An inseparable part of the town of Aire-sur-la-Lys, the Andouille d’Aire is traditionally celebrated on the second weekend of September with two days of entertainment. With its sporting events, its procession of musicians and folk bands and its grand concert on the Grand’Place, it is above all the traditional throwing of andouilles and the keys to the town from the Bailliage d’Aire’s bretèche that marks this gourmet and festive event of the year.

MID-SEPTEMBER

Beer Festival

Saint-Omer

Beer in Saint-Omer is almost a religion. From giant Goudale breweries to microbreweries, the hoppy beverage is the focus of festivities on the second weekend in September. Beer tastings, of course, but there’s more: a family treasure hunt, guided tours of the breweries and tastings of other local products.

SEPTEMBER TO MARCH

The WONDERFUL Season

Saint-Omer region

La Saison Merveilleuse is the highlight of the Pays de Saint-Omer’s events season. Several times a week, from September to March, Tourisme en Pays de Saint-Omer takes you to unusual, inaccessible or rediscoverable places for an evening, to find out more about the wonderland that is the Pays de Saint-Omer. We recommend the “Bus Merveilleux”, a simple concept that leads to poetic moments and unsuspected encounters: get into a vehicle with friends or family for an unknown destination.

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