French public and school holidays 2024

French public and school holiday dates 2024

Here’s to a happy and healthy New Year to you all. 

 

January is the perfect time to start planning your French travel adventures and to make the most of them, it’s always useful to know when the public and school holidays fall. Things have changed a lot in the twenty years since we’ve been living here, but in many areas of rural France, shops are still likely to be either closed or only open in the mornings on public holidays.

 

The school holiday dates in France are split into three zones and most of the holidays are staggered so not everyone is trying to hit the ski slopes or beaches at the same time, although be prepared for extra traffic on the roads on all Saturdays during the school holidays, or better still avoid driving on these days.

 

This summer Paris will be home to the Olympics, with 329 events over 19 days in 41 venues, which will mean a busy city, plus it’s all change for the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes. 

Here is my guide to all the French public holidays, school holidays and other notable dates, plus how they are celebrated here in France, for 2024. 

 

Public Holidays in France 2024

1^st January, New Year’s Day, jour de l’an 

31^st March, Easter Sunday, Pâques 

1^st April, Easter Monday, lundi de Pâques (note there is no Good Friday holiday in France unless you live in Alsace or Moselle areas)

1^st May, Fête du Travail (celebrated with lily of the valley)

8^th May, Victory in Europe Day, Victoire 1945 

9^th May, Ascension Day, Ascension (note schools will have an extra day off on Friday 9^th May for the bridge (pont see below)) 

20^th May, Pentecost Monday, lundi de Pentecôte

14^th July, Fête Nationale (a Sunday this year)

15^th August, Assumption Day, Assomption 

1^st November, All Saint's Day, Toussaint

11^th November, Armistice Day, Armistice 1918 

25^th December, Christmas Day, Jour de Noël (note there is no Boxing Day holiday in France on 26^th unless you live in Alsace or Moselle areas)

 

Faire le pont

Except for the holidays linked to Easter: Easter Monday, Ascension Day and Pentecost Monday, the above dates are the same every year and the holiday is always observed on the actual date rather than being moved to the nearest Monday (as the UK would do). Public holidays can therefore fall on weekends; to make up for this it is not uncommon for people to faire le pont (make a bridge) if a holiday falls on a Thursday (Ascension Day) or a Tuesday, by taking off the Friday or Monday to give themselves a four-day weekend. This leave will be part of their annual holiday entitlement, or the hours need to be made up, so while most businesses will be open on bridge days, some staff shortages can be expected. 

French school holiday zones 
https://www.vacances-scolaires-gouv.com

 

School Holidays 

 

Here are the dates for 2024:

The winter holiday is from 10^th February to 10^th March. 

Zone C gets the first two weeks, Zone A the middle two and Zone B the last two.

 

The spring holiday is from 6^th April to 5^th May. 

Zone C gets the first two weeks, Zone A the middle two and Zone B the last two weeks.

 

Thanks to Ascension Day falling on 9^th May, everyone is off for a five-day long weekend from Wednesday 8^th May (Victory in Europe Day) to Sunday 12^th May, with Friday being a bridge day.

 

The summer holiday for all zones is from 6^th July until 1^st September.

 

The October holiday for all zones is from 19^th October to 3^rd November.

 

The Christmas holiday for all zones is from 22^nd December to 6^th January 2025.

 

Other dates to note and celebrate

6^th January, Epiphany, celebrated in France with a Galette des Rois (see here)

10^th January, winter sales begin, soldes d’hiver. Sales are regulated in France and the winter sales will run from 10^th January to 6^th February 

 

2^nd February Candlemas day, Chandeleur, celebrated in France with pancakes (see here)

13^th February, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras when carnival time begins in France and pancakes, or beignets (similar to doughnuts) are eaten.

 

24^th March, Palm Sunday, Rameaux a day where our local boulangeries bake something different (see here)

31^st March, clocks spring forward an hour to Central European Summer Time

 

1^st April, Poisson d’avril celebrated in France with sticky fish (see here)

 

26^th May, Mother’s Day, fêtes des mères

27^th May, National Resistance Day, journée nationale de la Résistance

31^st May, Neighbours’ Day, fêtes des voisins often celebrated in France with shared meals

 

6^th June, 80^th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy that will be commemorated with a number of events this summer 

16^th June, Father’s Day, fêtes des pères

21^st June, world music day, fête de la musique, celebrated with free concerts in towns and villages all over France

26^th June, summer sales begin, soldes d’été, and will run until 16^th July

 

29^th June to 1^st July, Le Tour de France, with a planned depart in Florence, Italy, and a finish in Nice, NOT on the Champs-Elysées in Paris because of preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

 

26^th July to 11^th August, Paris 2024 Olympic Games with the Opening Ceremony on 26^th July

 

12^th to 18^th August, Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, begins in Rotterdam and finishes in Alpe d’Huez, in the Alps

21^st and 22^nd September, European Heritage weekend, Journées Européennes du Patrimoine, many museums and other cultural sites will be open to the public, often organising special events, and with free or reduced price entry

 

27^th October, clocks go back an hour to Central European Time and Christmas will be with us before we know it

Free museum entry on the First Sundays of the month 

Did you know many national museums in France open for free on the first Sunday of the month? Whilst not exclusive, as there are often restrictions in July and August, and some museums will close for some of the winter months, this is certainly a secret worth knowing and we’ve had some interesting visits over the years, all for free. Note: not all museums are national and without the financial support from the government, locally or independently run places will not have the ability to offer free entries. If you fancy a cultural city break, it would be worthwhile checking the museum websites to see if they are taking part and plan your visit accordingly.

 

7^th January

4^th February

3^rd March

7^th April

5^th May

2^nd June

7^th July

4^th August

1^st September

6^th October

3^rd November

1^st December

 

I hope you’ve found this useful and that wherever in France 2024 takes you, you have a wonderful time. I’d love to hear about your adventures and new discoveries.

 

  

Rendez-vous with the Festival Polar de Cognac

Cognac Crime Festival

Festival Polar de Cognac

 

Last Thursday evening we went out. We finished work, we dressed up, well I discarded my cosy leggings on the bed and found jeans, a blouse and some jewellery, and we got in the car to drive to Cognac, an hour away. This was already way more excitement than we are used to for a week night.

 

Cognac was holding its 28^th crime festival, Le Festival Polar de Cognac. This brings together novels, comic books, films and television series for a four-day festival of screenings, book sales and meet the author/stars events, that culminates with a prize-giving ceremony on the Sunday.

Rare night out excitement at the Festival Polar de Cognac

 

Our date was with Rendez-Vous avec le Crime 2, “Le mouton noir”, the third of three films selected for the television series prize. This is the French TV adaptation of Date With Malice, book two in Julia Chapman’s Dales Detective series of novels. I’ve been friends with Julia, thanks to this blog, for many years, even lunching with her in York back in 2014. Adrian and I have read all her books in English and watched the first of the TV films last Christmas, on France 3, with English subtitles. We couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to watch this one, on a big screen, so close to home. 

 

We opted for the free tickets but could have bought a Priority Pass that would have given us queue-free VIP access to all events. As we would only be there for one screening, a short queue up the back staircase, that was decorated with delicate stained-glass windows, wasn’t an issue. The theatre had filled up nicely by the time we got in, but we easily found two seats a few rows back from the front, which we sunk into nicely. They were the cosiest, softest cinema seats I’d ever sat in, like a bright red velvety hug, that was great until a hot flush snuck up on me during the film. Looking around, we think we were some of the youngest in the audience and from the chatter we’d overheard on the staircase, probably the only non-locals and likely the only British too. Even before we’d sat down, I’d fallen in love with the venue when I read the fabulous sign warning that no eating is allowed during the film, including sweets or my absolute pet hate, chewing gum.

Some of the cast and crew of Rendez-Vous Avec Le Crime 2

 

The evening began with an introduction and a few words from some of the production team as well as two of the actors, where we learned it was an avant premiere, so the first ever showing and not even the cast had yet seen the finished film, what a privilege for us, even without the priority pass, I felt like a VIP. The lights dimmed, the film started, and the low hubbub that built around us seemed to agree with our confused looks – they were showing the wrong film. It was easy to imagine the furtive fumbling going on in the projection room as we were left staring at a blank screen, before the man with the mic appeared back on stage to apologise. For the first time in 28 years, two films with identical running times were on the schedule, and one of them had been downloaded twice! He promised it would only be a short wait while they ‘found’ the correct film, which it was, and soon we were whisked off to the wilds of Brittany.

 

There was enough of a gasp of shock from the audience when the killer was revealed, to lead me to think that not many of them had read the books, but the enthusiastic clapping at the end was proof they had enjoyed it. With a French cast and location, it has an obvious French feel to it, but while it may lack a bit of Yorkshire heritage, it hasn’t lost any of the wit, humour or chemistry of the original books we both love. 

 

On Sunday night, it was lovely to read that the Grand Prix for the television series category had gone to Rendez-Vous Avec Le Crime 2, a well-deserved win and we will enjoy watching it again when it comes to France 3. I know that there is also a UK based production company who are looking into making a version for British TV, set in Yorkshire, which is fabulous news.

 

I am 100% sure that even though Adrian is known to indulge my many whims that take us to some weird and wonderful places, he wouldn’t have been up for a two-hour round trip, on a dark and biblically wet night after work just to watch a French film, unless it was based on a Julia Chapman book. 

 

Ed is now working for a film festival in Poitiers, so it is rather remiss of us that this was our first taste of a festival, but it won’t be our last.