The best events
Whatever the season, the Gaillac people love a party. Musical aperitifs, wine growers' festivals, markets and other festivities punctuate the outings for food lovers, explorers and music enthusiasts looking for new experiences in the Tarn.
Musical festivals in our towns
Every summer, in July, Les Musicales festival invites you to widen your horizons during an incredible event in Castelnau-de-Montmiral. Making the warm summer evenings even more festive, this festival offers classical, contemporary and world music. Also in July, in Lisle-sur-Tarn, the Arts Scénics eco-citizen festival highlights artists and their performances, while also promoting local products and producers.
Celebrating wine
In August, the Fête des Vins celebrates the Gaillac appellation and the expertise of the winegrowers, giving visitors the opportunity to taste the wines of around fifty exhibitors, beginning with an aperitif concert and followed by entertainment, all of which takes place in the park at the Château de Foucaud. In the autumn, Chai mon Vigneron celebrates the end of the harvest and the release of the Gaillac Primeur. On the programme: entertainment, concerts, mini-markets, prepared dishes and countryside hikes!
The medieval festivals
Around 14th July, the streets of Cordes sur Ciel relive their past splendour! In the village, colourful characters bring the Middle Ages back to life during the whole day with many animations and demonstrations for the Grand Fauconnier's festival. Not far from there, in Penne, knights, builders and noble ladies revive the enchanting decor of the fortress perched on its eagle's nest. Finally, in the middle of August, the Occitan Dragons open their storybook "Once upon a time in Puycelsi". No castle, but an unyielding village surrounded by fortifications as a backdrop for a leap through the corridors of time!
Aperitif-concerts on a wine estate or on a gabarre
Sail, with your hair blowing in the wind, raise your wine glass and toast with friends during an aperitif on a "gabarre" boat trip on the Tarn, or try a local wine tasting accompanied by music on a wine estate with an aperitif-concert: you'll have a great time!
Annual and summer markets
The Tarn never ceases to attract passers-by to meet and share in the gastronomy and craft creations. Day and night, a warm atmosphere reigns at the traditional gourmet and evening markets. Sit down at a large table, and enjoy the local "chichoulet" or the radishes with salted liver made by local producers. And if you feel like it during the summer, you're sure to find the honey fair in Castelnau-de-Montmiral satisfying!
Biocybèle in Graulhet
In June, visit this fair dedicated to organic produce and alternatives at the Parc de la Bousquétarié. In a jovial atmosphere, gourmets and followers of environmentally-friendly food share their convictions during a festive evening or during workshops and demonstrations.
Contemporary Ceramics Market
Giroussens Ceramics Centre shines a spotlight on contemporary ceramics, potters and creators, during a market where around 70 ceramicists present their sculptures, decorative and utilitarian pieces to the public.
Los Festaïres, Rues d'été and l'Été de Vaour
In June, in the heart of the Sivens Forest, Los Festaïres organises an aperitif-concert along with a digestive walk and a gourmet market before sunset. On foot or by bike, various trails invite you to recharge your batteries while admiring the local fauna. In July, in the Tarn, the Rues d'été Festival invites circus performers and brass bands to stroll through the streets of Graulhet where dance, arts and even magic performances will delight both young and old alike. A never-ending wonderment as it continues in early August in Vaour. On the edge of the Grésigne forest, this small village becomes for a week a Mecca for street arts and theatre during the Summer of Vaour festival.
For book lovers and craftspeopleBook festivals
Lovers of words and dark novels, come to the Festival du Polar in September, where authors and book professionals gather over a weekend at Lisle Noir around a shared passion, that of crime novels and thrillers. In October, in Gaillac, the Festival du Livre opens its doors onto a literary and artistic world that is just as wonderful, with entertainment, shows, exhibitions and book signings leading to surprising encounters! And it is in Cordes sur Ciel that the last page is turned in November during the Salon du livre jeunesse. A perfect place for stories with many epic adventures.
In October, discover the manufacturing secrets of the leather workshops who open their doors during the event "Graulhet, le Cuir dans la Peau". In the season when everyone wears their warmest wool or leather jacket, the old medieval town of Graulhet, which has become the leather capital, invites the public to visit the workshops and local companies that are closed to the public during the rest of the year.
