Events in the Gers

Events

Month	Event	Comments
February	Regional Agricultural Fair, Barcelone-sur-Gers	The fair lasts for three days and includes everything from major machinery, to livestock, fairground, brocante and craft and produce stalls.
February	Exposition des Oiseaux, Auch	Two days for the regional bird show - everything from exotic birds to local breeds.
March to September	Hippodromes at Auch, Castéra-Verduzan and Vic-Fezensac	Opening of the horse race and trotting season in the area; meetings take place in March, August and September and are very enjoyable for enthusiasts and amateur race goers alike. Every racecourse offers lunch.
April	Festival National de Film d'animation, Auch	5 day film festival.
April	Marché aux Fleurs in the picturesque village of Fourcès .	A weekend at the end of April at this lovely flower festival in the picturesque village of Fourcès . Lots of geraniums but many serious producers of rarer plants.
May to September	Exhibitions at Château de Lavardens -	Each year finds different exhibitions in the marvellous surroundings of the Château. Recent ones include the sculptures of Camille Claudel, the superb sculptures of Daphne du Barry and the works of Salvador Dali .... and all in the marvellous surroundings of this romantic château. The 2007 exhibition was of magnificent tapestries designed by contemporary artists and made in the famous Aubusson workshops.
May to October	Motor Racing at Nogaro and Pau	F3000, motor bike and 4x4 racing at Nogaro throughout the season and Touring Car Championship and Classic Cars in Pau (end May).
May	Festival de Bandas, Condom	3 day festival of music 11 –13 May, with bands from around the country.
June	Festival de Musique , Auch, 'Eclats de Voix	A ten day festival of the voice in venues around the town from baroque to the Beatles.
July	Country Music Festival at Mirande. 2nd weekend July www.country-musique.com/mirande	Country music in the Gers with performers from around the globe. The 2007 festival celebritieswere 4 members of the original Dallas cast!. Line dancing, 4+4 rally, hot air ballooning and many other attractions - a great Festival.
July	Tempo Latino at Vic-Fezensac www.tempo-latino.com	An electric three day festival of Salsa, Afro-cuban and Latin music. Some top performers from South America, Paris etc. Restaurants, bars and music in the street at all hours. 24th–28th July 2008.
May to September	Novillada at Vic-Fezensac and elsewhere	The opening of the bullfighting season in the area takes place over the Pentecost weekend in May. A 'passion' for many Gascons, tickets are difficult but not impossible to obtain. There are arenas in 21 Gersoise villages and events throughout the summer showing both the traditional bullfighting and 'course landaise', the latter more light-hearted where the bulls are not killed.
July - September	Festival l'été photographique de Lectoure	The festival takes the form of workshops, conferences and an exhibition of photography
July	Fête Médiévale at Larressingle	Held in this gem of a fortified medieval village, the festival recreates life in the middle ages, complete with working siege machines - 4th weekend in July
July	Danse à Flaran, Valance-sur-Baïse	A three day festival of dance which takes place at the magnificent 12th century Cistercian Abbaye de Flaran, like many of the monuments of the Gers, a stopping place for the pilgrims to Compostello.
August	'JIM' - Jazz in Marciac BOX OFFIC OPENS APRIL 2007 performers included Wynton Marsalis, Joe Cocker, Didier Lockwood Trio, Gilberto Gil and Ahmans Jamal. 1st 2 weeks in August	Taking place during the first two weeks of August, this is an internationally renowned festival of Jazz attracting such names as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nina Simone, George Coleman, Oscar Peterson and the 'godfather' of the festival, Wynton Marsalis to whom there is now a statue in the town square. Ticketed concerts every day in the big top and arena and 'free' jazz and master classes all day in the town square. Just being there is a great experience! For further information, see www.jazzinmarciac.com
August	Marionnette Festival at Mirepoix	A favorite with the children.
August	Festival International du Ciel et de l'Espace at Fleurance	Now in its 16th year, this festival is a week of conferences, workshops and hands-on astronomy. It takes place at the Centre of Astronomy for the region at Fleurance which is linked to the Observatory and Astronomy Centre at Pic-du-Midi in the Pyrénées, opened to the public in 2000. Includes sessions at the Hameau d'etoiles, an isolated village where you can star-watch with the sky unpolluted by town lights.
September	EXPO Gascogne, Auch	Regional agricultural and trade fair
September	Horse race meeting, Auch	The biggest race meeting of the season at the Auch Hippodrome, including the climax of the 'trotting' races
October	Indépendance et Création, Auch	Four day film festival with over 30 films and round-table discussions.
October/ November	CIRCA - Festival du cirque actuel	10 day festival of circus with performers from around the world, including students of the many circus schools and 'pop circus' which is available to all school children.