UPDATE – if you’re looking for information about events taking place in July 2019 go to my new article – what to do in Bordeaux in July 2019.

There are so many festivals, new exhibitions and special events that take place this month in the Bordeaux area that it was quite hard to choose the best ones. Eventually, I selected the biggest events and the exhibitions that are not going to be presented much longer and that I believe you should really go see. Also, just because it started to be so hot in Bordeaux I added a little getaway place where you could go when it’s too hot for any of the events I offer here.
I hope you enjoy these events and places and if you do, show me some love and share it with your friends 🙂

This is the list of 20 things to do in and around Bordeaux in July 2018:

1. Jalles House Rock 

Le Jalles House Rock is one of the biggest rock festivals in Gironde that annually proposes a rich program of local and international acts. The goal of the festival is to share the love for rock music with as many people as possible and that’s why the entrance is free (they do however encourage you to donate to the Estran association that organizes the event). The 11th edition of the festival in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles will take place on July 5-7 and includes bands like Circa Waves, Dewolff, Burning Heads and Himalayas.

For more details check out the website of the festival.

When: July 5-7
Where: 1, chemin de Cantelaude, 33160 Saint-Médard-en-Jalles

2. Zinefest

Zinefest is a festival dedicated to comics, illustrations, photography and poetry. The festival includes several expositions and concerts by both French and international artists and will take place in several venues in the south of Bordeaux. Look at the full program of events here.

When: July 4-8
Where: Different locations next to Marché des Douves in Bordeaux Sud (check out the program).

3. Festival Rues et Vous

This is the 12th edition of Festival Rue et Vous , a performance arts festival that takes place every year in the charming medieval town of Rions. This year the festival was expanded to three days (July 6-8) and will include a rich program of theater, dance, cirque and music shows for both adults and kids. For tickets and the full program check out the website of the festival.

When: July 6-8
Where: Rions
How much: 12.80€ /one day 16.80€ /two days 24.80€/ 3 days

4. Sentout Festival 

Every summer the Sentout festival creates three magical evenings where you get to enjoy the worlds of music, wine and gastronomy combined. The festival will take place on July 5-7 in the little village of Lignan de Bordeaux which is located at the entrance to  the Entre deux Mers area (the wine region of Bordeaux). Every evening the program offers a different music style: on the first evening you get to dance to the Peruvian Cumbia, then listen to French rock on the second night and finish with Swing and Jazz. The menus proposed by the chef Jacinthe Dos Santos will be inspired by the the musical program of that night. To see the full program of concerts check out the facebook page of the event.

When: July 5-7
Where: Santout, 43 Route de la Lande, 33360 Lignan-de-Bordeaux

5. Senefesti

Senefesti is a beautiful festival celebrating the African culture with dance and music performances. The next two events of the festival will take place at the Rocher de Palmer in Cenon: Saturday (July 6) a new photography exhibition will be presented and on Sunday (July 7) an African music festival will take place from 14:00 to 2:00. For more details check out here. 

When: July 6-7
Where: Le Rocher de Palmer, 1 rue Aristide Briand33150 Cenon

6. Dance show by three famous choreographers

A co-production of the National Opera of Bordeaux and the Opera of Limoges presents an evening of three works by three famous choreographers: Petite Mort by Jiří Kylián, Le Chant du compagnon errant by Maurice Béjart and Le Concert (ou Les Malheurs de chacun) by Jerome Robbins. The dance show will be performed in the Opera of Bordeaux, during nine nights from June 27 to July 6.

For more details and tickets see the website of the Opera.

When:  June 27 to July 6
Where: Grand Théâtre, place de la Comédie, 33000 BORDEAUX

7. Relache Festival

Relache Festival, created by the Allez les filles association, is a set of  evenings of free concerts that are going to take place at different places and dates during this summer. The 9th edition of this festival will last about 3 months (May 30 to August 31) with performances by both local groups and international acts in many genres of music. Take a look at the full program of events on their website.

When and Where: 15 concerts and events will take place over the month of July in different location in and around Bordeaux (check out the program link above).

8. Celebrate the French National Day

July 14th is the French national day which is being celebrated in every city in France. Like every year, Bordeaux will hold a series of popular events and parties, the main ones are:

• Military parade at Quai des Chartrons –  18:30
• The traditional dance party at Placette de Munich – Quai Louis XVIII (in front of Quinconces)- 20:30
• Fireworks show above the Garonne river between Pont de Pierre and Place de la Bourse – 22:45

Apart from the traditional national day events, plenty of other parties will take place on July 13-14 to celebrate this day, you can see some of them here.

9. Jazz Festival in Saint Emilion

This is the 7th edition of this Jazz festival in the beautiful town of Saint Emilion which will take place July 20-22. During the three days of the festival Saint Emilion will offer a great mix of jazz concerts, wine tasting and tasty food. In the festival area you will find a wine bar with the wines of Saint Emilion and a gourmand market with local products and food trucks. For more info and the full program check out the website of the festival. For those of you living in Bordeaux, a bus will be offered from Les Quinconces to Saint Emilion at the price of 9 euros (both ways).

When:  July 20-22
Where: Douves du Palais Cardinal, Saint-Emilion.

10. Bordeaux Open Air 

The second part of the third edition of the Bordeaux Open Air festival will take place on July 22 in Jardin Public and will include a lineup of four djs. Bordeaux Open Air is a series of summer free electronic music events, all set in different locations and with a great city vibe to them. The third part of the festival will take place on August 12 in Parc Palmer.

See more info about the event on their website.

When:  July 22
Where: Jardin Public, 33000 Bordeaux, France

11. Arcachon En Scene

Archachon en Scene is a popular music festival that brings big French and international acts to perform in this beautiful town. This year’s program includes Claudio Capeo (July 27), Martin Solveig and Ofenbach (August 1st) and IAM (August 3). For more info check out the facebook page of the event, for tickets click here.

When: July 27, August 1st and 3rd
Where: Stade Vélodrome d’Arcachon

12. Dance on the Quai 

Dansons sur les Quais is a series of dancing classes and events where people gather to dance together and learn a variety of dancing genres like Tango, Salsa, Bollywood, Forro, Hip Hop, Street Jazz, Zumba, Country and more. These activities will be guided by professional dancers from different dance schools in Bordeaux and they are completely free, so this is a great opportunity you don’t want to miss. The dancing events will take place on the quai almost daily from mid- July to mid – August. For more details and the full program check out the website of Dansons sur les Quai.

When:  Daily from July 14 to August 19
Where: Quai Louis XVIII, 33000 Bordeaux

13. Bordeaux Metropolitan Summer

Like every year Bordeaux Metropolitan invites you to discover the the city and the area around it through a series of cultural events and activities. More than 100 activities of music, dance, public reading, theater, circus and gastronomy  will take place between July 8 and September 25.  These events are so widely spread across the metropolitan area of Bordeaux that you are guaranteed to discover places (especially parks) that you have never heard of before: Parc d’observation in Floirac, Parc du Viver in Merignac, Parc Camponac in Pessac and many more. Check out the full program of events here.

When:  Daily from July 8 to September 25
Where: Bordeaux Metropolitan – check out the exact location of every event in the program.

14. Festival international d’orgues

This is a one of a kind festival in France, proposing numerous organ concerts during the summer in three of the biggest churches of Bordeaux. The concerts will take place between July 10 and August 31 in the following locations:

• Every Tuesday in Cathédrale Saint André
• Every Wednesday in Abbatiale Sainte Croix
• Every Thursdday in Basilique Saint-Michel

You can see the full list of performances here.

When:  July 10- August 30 at 18:00
Where: Cathédrale Saint André,  Abbatiale Sainte Croix, Basilique Saint-Michel

15. Nuits Atypiques Festival

This multidisciplinary festival in South Gironde has been taking place every summer since 1992. During the months of July (July 1-28) 17 events will take places in 15 towns in the Gironde department: Bassanne, Bazas, Bernos-Beaulac, Cadillac, Cazalis, Cudos,Gajac, La Réole, Podensac, Preignac, Saint-Macaire, Saint-Michelde-Castelnau,
Saint-Symphorien and Villandraut. The program includes a variety of activities such as: concerts, theater, films, debates, tours to discover the towns and more. Check out the full program here and all the info about the locations here.

When:  July 1-28
Where: South Gironde- check out the exact location of every event in the program.

16. Learn how to dance Tango

Like every summer the Tango Bordeaux association organizes pubic tango dance events in Jardin Public,  Place de Quinconces and la Grande Poste. The events will take place between July 1st and September 7 – you can see the full list of events for this summer in the website of the association.

When:  July 1st – September 7
Where: Jardin Public,  place de Quinconces and la Grande Poste.

17. Free concerts at the Musée des arts décoratifs 

In parallel to the “Construction” exhibition by Martin Szekely that is currently being presented in the new space of the Musée des arts décoratifs, the museum has collaborated with IBOAT to organize free concerts every Thursday evening (18:00 to 21:00) until July 26. The concerts will take place in the inner courtyard of the museum (the access is from 3 rue Boulan). See more details here.

When: June 14- July 26
Where: 3 rue boulan, Bordeaux

18. Go to the beach at Bordeaux Lac

The best thing you can do when it’s getting really hot in Bordeaux is to go to the beach. If you don’t have a car or you just don’t want to drive to the ocean, you can always go to the beach of Bordeaux Lac. This small cute beach has everything you need: a sandy clean beach with beautiful clear water and even a lot of shade from the trees for those who don’t really like the sun. the beach is open to the public daily from June 1st to August 31 and starting July 1st you even have  water and beach activities such as sailing, kayaking, mini-golf and more. Check out the list of daily activities here.

When: June 1- August 31
Where: Boulevard Jacques Chaban Delmas, 33520 BRUGES

Exhibitions you should see

19. Urban Legends Exhibition

Legendes Urbaines, an exhibition that hosts more than 50 street artists, will be presented from June 21 to September 16 at La Base Sous Marine, one of the most unique places in Bordeaux.

For more details check out the facebook page of la Base Sous-marine.

When: June 21 – September 16
Where: La Base Sous Marine, Boulevard Alfred Daney, 33300 Bordeaux

20. Last chance to see the Urban Fever

exhibition by Speedy Graphito Exhibition

An exhibition by the famous French street artist, Speedy Graphito, will be presented at the Institut Bernard Magrez until July 15. The artist uses many forms of art –  painting, sculpture, photo, video and more to express his innovative and sometimes political ideas.

Check out the website of Speedy graphito to explore the works of the artist and the website of the museum for more information about the exhibition.

When: April 19– July 15
Where: 16 rue de Tivoli, Bordeaux

If you know of any other interesting events in and around Bordeaux, please let me know in the comments below and I will gladly add them to my weekly list of things to do in Bordeaux.

Hope you enjoyed this list! Now don’t be shy, share it with your friends 🙂