Riviera chestnut festivals: 12 dates through November

From 11 October to 20 November 2026 twelve chestnut festivals will take place in the Maritime Alps: villages roast chestnuts over coals, set up rows of local producers and host folk groups. The calendar was compiled by the tourist portal Côte d’Azur France.

October: mountain villages

• 11 October — Sospel, craft and chestnut festival, and Berre-les-Alpes;
• 17 October — Saint-Laurent-du-Var, a communal harvest and chestnut festival;
• 18 October — Saint-Paul-de-Vence, also a harvest with chestnuts, and Tanneron;
• 24 October — Saorge in the Roya valley;
• 25 October — Valdeblore: in La Bolline from 9:00 to 18:00 free roasted chestnuts and mulled wine are on offer, stalls with local produce and crafts line the streets, and folk groups play during the day.

November: closer to the sea

• 7 November — Antibes, chestnut festival in the Safranier district;
• 7 and 8 November — Isola 2000;
• 11 November — Le Broc;
• 15 November — Cagnes-sur-Mer, with an educational farm and pony rides for children;
• 20 November — Villeneuve-Loubet, a castagnade by the local fêtes committee.

What happens at the festival

The line-up is much the same everywhere: roasted chestnuts, chestnut cream and jam, cheeses and cured meats from nearby farms, wine of the new vintage, craft stalls and street musicians. In the mountain villages the festival is often combined with a communal lunch at long tables, while in the coastal towns — with a fair and children’s attractions.

The chestnut sits alongside the vine in the local calendar: about how the harvest is celebrated in the south we wrote separately, and about the Bellet vineyard on the hills of Nice — here.

If you travel further

In neighbouring Var the season is longer: Collobrières celebrates the chestnut three Sundays in a row — 11, 18 and 25 October, and La Garde-Freinet — on 18 and 25 October and 8 November.

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Photo: Francesco Paggiaro / Pexels