Spring 2027 is shaping up as an unusually good time to be in France. The big hook is a millennium: 2027 marks a thousand years since the birth of William the Conqueror in Falaise in 1027, and a year-long, multi-region programme called the European Year of the Normans is built around it. Expect new museum openings — including the Bayeux Tapestry Museum — historical exhibitions, and a curiosity at the Château de Falaise: a 25 m² tapestry depicting the scene missing from the famous Bayeux original.
Paris adds a couple of draws of its own. The Palais Galliera, the city's fashion museum, marks its 50th anniversary with a major exhibition pulling 200,000 pieces from the City of Paris archives, running 17 April to 18 July 2027. And on the Champs-Élysées, the Palais de la Découverte science museum reopens on 15 April 2027 after a complete refurbishment.
Away from the capital, the spring calendar is properly quirky. Berck-sur-Mer on the Pas-de-Calais coast hosts its international kite festival from 17 to 25 April, when thousands of kites — some of the biggest in the world — fill the sky above the beach. Amiens holds La Rederie d'Amiens on 4 April, a two-day flea market and the second-largest in France after Lille's September Braderie. Food-focused travellers can aim for the Fête de la Fraise in Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, Limousin, on 9 May — a strawberry festival featuring every kind of strawberry cake and a giant tart big enough for everyone — or Grasse in Provence's Expo-Rose, three days devoted to roses (dates to be confirmed). In the fishing village of Audresselles, also in Pas-de-Calais, a crab festival with sea shanties and ultra-fresh seafood is planned, dates still to be announced. In Paris itself, the Banlieues Bleue festival (5 March to 2 April) brings jazz, blues and world music to venues across Seine-Saint-Denis.
There's also plenty of local colour to catch by chance. 1 April is poisson d'avril — shops sell fish-shaped chocolates and pastries, and the prank of the day is sticking a paper fish on someone's back without them noticing. Public holidays to work around: Good Friday (26 March, Alscace only), Easter Monday (29 March), May Day (1 May), Victory in Europe Day (8 May), Ascension (6 May) and Whit Monday (17 May). Several fall on or near weekends in 2027, so expect busy roads and booked-out trains around those dates.
Why go in spring 2027 rather than any other spring? The Normandy anniversary events give a one-off reason to visit Falaise, Bayeux and the surrounding region, while the kite festival and flea market are the kind of gatherings that turn an ordinary weekend into a proper trip. Food lovers get the strawberry festival; music fans get the blues in Paris. Pack layers, book Normandy accommodation early for the millennium year, and keep an eye out for confirmed dates on the rose and crab festivals.
