Theatre, humour and Saint Julian: Biot in August

August in Biot revolves around three events: a literary evening with Francis Huster in the Frédéric Mistral garden, Noémie de Lattre’s solo show on 13 August, and the four-day patronal festival of Saint Julian from 21 to 24 August. The first has already taken place, the other two are still to come — and they make a convenient basis for a whole day in the glassmakers’ town.

📖 Festival of Words: Huster and cello in the open air

On Tuesday 4 August the Frédéric Mistral garden hosted an evening of the “Festival of Words” — with Francis Huster, one of the leading actors and directors of French theatre. He read excerpts from his new book Un cancre au paradis (“A Dunce in Paradise”), which will be published by Albin Michel in September 2026; he was accompanied by cellist Callune Kippeurt. Admission was free, reports the Biot town hall.

The “Festival of Words” is organised by the Alpes-Maritimes department: actors read aloud substantial texts of literature, continuing the tradition of oral storytellers. Before Huster, Patrick Timsit and Frédéric Diefenthal performed in Biot in the same format — the festival programme tours the department all summer, so it’s worth keeping the Mistral garden evening in mind for next year too.

🎤 13 August: Noémie de Lattre solo evening

The second event of the month is in the same Frédéric Mistral garden, on Thursday 13 August at 21:30. Noémie de Lattre performs her solo show: conversational comedy about men and women, stereotypes and everyday life, which the actress has toured across French stages (her manifesto-cabaret “Féministe pour homme” was nominated for a Molière).

Tickets cost €5, children under 12 free, seating is limited — details on the town’s website. The show is part of the “Nights of Art” (Nocturnes d’art) — a summer series of open-air performances. The Frédéric Mistral garden is an open-air venue, so the evening is weather-dependent: on the coast it gets dark around nine in August, and the 21:30 start time is timed accordingly.

🎉 21–24 August: patronal festival of Saint Julian

The main event of the month stretches over four days — from Friday 21 to Monday 24 August, throughout the old town of Biot. Saint Julian is the town’s patron saint: his relics were found on the commune’s land in the 18th century, and since then the festival centres on a procession with the saint’s statue through the village streets and a mass at the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene or outdoors.

Around the religious part — four days of street life: the town promises dawn serenades (aubades) and dances in Provençal costumes, traditional music Lou Cepoun, street theatre and concerts on the squares. The festival also has its own sporting programme:

• cycle race Grand Prix des Verriers — “Glassblowers’ Grand Prix”, named after Biot’s main craft;
• square-ball game competition — a local version of pétanque where the balls aren’t round;
• waiters’ race with trays;
• traditional dexterity games: roumpa pignata (“break the pot”) and sack races, in which families take part.

🏺 What to see in Biot between events

Both evenings start late, so the day is free. Biot is home to the national Fernand Léger Museum — the artist spent his final years here, and the museum is built around his mosaics and ceramics. Nearby are the Biot Museum of History and Ceramics and the Glass Ecomuseum: the town calls itself “Europe’s open‑air glass workshop”, and the famous Biot glass with air bubbles is still blown here. Also here is the refurbished Espace des arts et de la culture — the city arts centre, which opened after a year and a half of renovation.

Ceramics are the town’s second speciality: we wrote about how it is today in the piece on Marc Alberghina’s cicadas in Biot. And if you’d like to turn this into a whole coastal itinerary, our selection of summer evenings on the Riviera will come in handy.

📍 How to plan the evening

Both venues are the same Frédéric Mistral garden in central Biot, so there’s no need to go anywhere between them. Admission to the “Festival of Words” was free, Noémie de Lattre’s show costs €5; in both cases seating is limited and it’s first come, first served. The Saint Julian festival is entirely free, but parking in the village is taken from early evening on these days — it’s easier to leave the car down by the approach to the old town and walk up.

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Photo: Gu Bra / Pexels