This weekend is focused on two main events: Bordeaux fête le fleuve where Bordeaux celebrates its river and the famous Fête de la musique with live music on the streets of Bordeaux. So a big part of this weekend’s list will discuss these two in detail. But as usual, I won’t leave you with just two options 🙂 We have a food festival, street art, fashion events and more. If you want to discover what other events are going to take place soon in Bordeaux be sure to check out my post about things to do in June and the latest one about best things to do in July. Here’s the list of things to do this weekend in Bordeaux (June 21-23).
Bordeaux fête le fleuve
Bordeaux fête le fleuve is one of the most beautiful and entertaining events the city has to offer. Starting today (June 20) and until Sunday (June 23) Bordeaux will celebrate the Garonne River with plenty of festive activities and big beautiful vessels docking on the banks. The program includes a big concert every night, water activities, a visit to big impressive boats, gastronomic pavilions, art exhibitions, a white wine festival, fireworks on the river and more. The entrance is free but if you want to enjoy some of Bordeaux’s wine as well, you can get a pass here. For more details and the full program click here.
When: June 20-23 / Where: The banks of the Garonne
Take a tour on some of the biggest ships in the world
To celebrate the river, Bordeaux invited some of the biggest and most beautiful ships to dock at banks of the Garonne. Among others, there will be two Russian ships, Kruzenshtern and Sedov, which are the largest training ships in the world, 114 and 117 meters long respectively. Many of the boats docking at the riverfront, including the biggest ones, offer tours on June 20th from (14:00 to 18:00) and on June 21-23 from 10:30 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 18:30. Tickets are 5 euros and free for kids under 6 yo.You can see all the boats arriving in Bordeaux for the event and order tickets for the tours here.
Fête de la musique
The Fête de la musique is a French national day, dedicated to the celebration of music, with free concerts and street parties happening on this day (June 21) all over France. This is an extraordinary day where you get to walk around the city and enjoy an endless variety of small and big concerts from any genre of music. Like every other city in France, Bordeaux too will celebrate La Fête de la musique with its own street concerts and activities.
One of the biggest music events this year will take place at the Bordeaux fête le fleuve festival. On June 21 Place des Quinconces will turn into a music festival village hosting a long lineup of artists from the French pop scene. You can see the jull musical program here.
Here’s a list of more locations were big music celebrations are about to take place (click the links for more details about the events): Square Dom Bedos, Place du Palais, Place Fernand Lafargue, Parc Peixotto in Talence, the market in Talence, the Bacalan market, a rooftop party on the Dock 6, Cathédrale Saint-André and more.
When: June 21 / Where: All over the city of Bordeaux
Les Epicuriales
This foodie event taking place on June 13-23 has become an early summer Bordelaise tradition. For 11 days les Epicuriales festival transforms Allées de Tourny (next to the Opera) to gastronomic heaven with about twenty restaurants set up especially for the event. The highlight of the event is ”Les Étoiles d’Épicure”, a restaurant that will host a different Michelin star chef every evening. For more details check out their website or their facebook page.
When: June 13-23 / Where: Allées de Tourny 33000 Bordeaux
L’Été de Musical Écran
L’Été de Musical Écran is a series of seven open-air cinema events that will take place in different parks in Bordeaux metropole during the summer. Every event will start with an open-air screening of a movie/ documentary related to music and will be followed by a DJ set. The first event will take place this Saturday (June 22) in Parc Favols in Carbon-Blanc. The first movie to be screened is Daft Punk Unchained. For more details click here.
When: June 22 starting 19:00 / Where: Parc Favols in Carbon-Blanc
A big second hand clothes sale
After many successful huge vintage clothes sales in Paris, Violette Sauvage arrives to Bordeaux with the same agenda of giving clothes a second life. The big vintage sale will take place this weekend (June 22-23) in one of the most special places in Bordeaux, les Vivres de l’Art. Apart from a huge amount of clothes, the event also includes food trucks and different workshops and activities. For more info check out the facebook page of the event.
When: June 22-23 / Where: 4 Rue Achard, 33300 Bordeaux
Festival Free music
Freemusic is a big music festival taking place this weekend (June 21-23) at Lac de Montendre (about an hour drive from Bordeaux). The festival includes a long lineup of artists that will take the stage on this beautiful beach in the Charente-Maritime department. For the full program and tickets click here.
When: June 21-23 /Where: Lac de Montendre
Echo a Venir –electronic music festival
This is actually happening right after the weekend, but I wanted to remind you all about this fun festival. Echo a Venir is a big visual art and electronic music festival that will take place on June 24-26 on the riverfront. The program of the festival includes a lineup of Djs, audiovisual performances, digital workshops and more. Check out the facebook page of the festival for more info. To see the full program click here.
When: June 24-26 / Where: Placette de Munich (quais de Bordeaux)
Vide-grenier musical
A vide grenier musical is a fun event where you can purchase plenty of second-hand items related to music: old cassettes, a little piano, photos of famous stars and more. The event will take place on Sunday (June 23) at Sortie 13 in Pessac. For more details click here.
When: June 23 / Where: Rue Walter Scott 33600 Pessac
A vernissage week in Bordeaux
This is a special weekend for art lovers. This week (until June 25) Bordeaux welcomes its new cultural season, which was named “Liberté ! Bordeaux 2019”. For the occasion, a vernissage week takes place this week (June 18-25) in Bordeaux where some of Bordeaux’s best museums present their new exhibitions at the same time. The participating museums are the Beaux-Arts gallery (not the museum), CAPC, la Base sous-marine, musée des Arts décoratifs et du Design and more. See the full program of exhibitions here.
When: June 18-25/ Where: different museums in Bordeaux
Rivages et Vertigo Sea – a new exhibition
The Base sous marine is hosting a new and intriguing exhibition starting June 21. It is, in fact, a combination of two exhibitions addressing the themes of sea and shore. Rivages is a photography exhibition by the artist Harry Gruyaert and VertigoSea is a video installation by the director John Akomfrah. For more information about the exhibition click here.
When: June 21 – September 22 / Where: Boulevard Alfred Daney, 33000 Bordeaux
A street art creative workshop
A few weeks ago a new exhibition by the street artist Mika was presented at the Institut Bernard Magrez. This Saturday (June 22) the museum will host a creative workshop where you will recreate one of Mika’s famous works. The workshop is open to adults and kids older than 5 years old. For more details and tickets click here.
When: June 22, at 15:00 / Where: 16 rue de Tivoli, 33000 Bordeaux
If you’re visiting Bordeaux for the first time, be sure to check out my ultimate guide to Bordeaux to get familiar with all the must-see places in Bordeaux. To help you choose a hotel in Bordeaux I’ve gathered a list of the best hotels in the center of Bordeaux as well as a guide to the districts of Bordeaux to help you find your preferred AirBnB location.
Finally, if you are looking for a fun and delicious activity in Bordeaux, check out my food tours in which I’ll take you through a three hours journey in the culinary scene of the Southwest of France.
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