The Saveurs & Savoirs Festival, Uzès 2026
8–11 October 2026 · 4th edition. For four days every October, Uzès turns into the dining room of French gastronomy. 38 events at €10 each, free for under-15s — and nobody writes about it in English.
Saveurs & Savoirs — “flavours and knowledge” — is the food and culture festival of Uzès. It is not a food market with a stage bolted on. It is closer to a literary festival that happens to be about eating: chefs, writers, winemakers, cheesemongers and spice merchants sit down for an hour at a time and are interviewed properly, by people who know the subject.
The 4th edition runs from 8–11 October 2026, with 38 events across 9 venues. It is run by the Association Saveurs & Savoirs alongside François-Régis Gaudry, who presents On va déguster on France Inter and hosts several of the conversations himself.
What makes it worth planning a trip around is the ratio. A town of 8,000 people books the kind of line-up a capital city would put behind a €90 ticket, and charges €10 — the same €10 for Cyril Lignac as for a cheesemaker from the Jura. You will not find that anywhere else in France.
First, the thing nobody tells you: it is all in French
Every talk, demonstration and screening is in French. Neither the festival nor the Uzès–Pont du Gard tourist office announces any translation or interpreting, and the ticketing site is French-only. We would rather say so plainly than let you spend €10 on an hour you cannot follow.
That is not a reason to stay away — it is a reason to choose differently. If your French is limited, these are the events that carry themselves:
- ·The cooking demonstrations at the Loggia — you are watching hands, not following an argument.
- ·The producers' market on Place aux Herbes on Sunday — free, outdoors, and the stallholders are used to visitors.
- ·The meatball contest that opens the festival on Thursday at midday — competitive cooking needs no subtitles.
- ·The free tastings — 5 events on the programme cost nothing, so a French you half-follow costs you nothing either.
- ·The long lunches outside town — a four-hour meal is a four-hour meal in any language.
The four names on the poster
Same price as everything else. They sell out first.
Jean Sulpice
Ouverture du festival, suivie du Règne végétal
L'Ombrière · €10
Hélène Darroze
Des Landes à Londres : la route de l'excellence
L'Ombrière · €10
Olivier Roellinger
Des étoiles aux épices, le cuisinier corsaire
L'Ombrière · €10
Cyril Lignac
Des fourneaux aux plateaux : une success story à la française — clôture du festival
L'Ombrière · €10
The programme, day by day
All 38 events, as published by the festival. Times are the start times — the festival does not publish end times; allow about an hour for a talk or a demonstration.
Thursday 8 October
2 events
- 12:00 Concours de Boulette Junior Collège Lou Redounet · free
- 18:30 Jean Sulpice — Ouverture du festival, suivie du Règne végétal L'Ombrière · €10
Friday 9 October
13 events
- 11:00 Claire Pierrot — Secrets et dégustation d'un fromage d'exception : le Comté L'Ombrière · free
- 11:00 Johanna Messa & Cristel — Tout savoir sur la cuisson saine basse température Loggia · €10
- 11:30 Beena Paradin — De mère en fille, les saveurs de l'Inde Librairie de la Place aux Herbes — petit amphithéâtre · €10
- 14:00 Hélène Darroze — Des Landes à Londres : la route de l'excellence L'Ombrière · €10
- 14:00 Louis-Albert de Broglie & Nicolas Toutain — Le Prince des tomates Librairie de la Place aux Herbes — petit amphithéâtre · €10
- 15:30 Beena Paradin & Épices Cook — Quand les épices racontent l'Inde Loggia · €10
- 16:00 Alessandra Pierini — Vive le risotto aux fraises ! La cuisine italienne kitsch des années 60-80 Librairie de la Place aux Herbes — petit amphithéâtre · €10
- 16:00 Sonia Lounès, Stéphane Bour, Ferdi Aupetit & Whoogy's — Tout feu tout flamme — les artisans du piquant L'Ombrière · €10
- 18:00 Nathan Henck & Épices Cook — La tielle sétoise, façon takoyaki Loggia · €10
- 18:00 Olivier Roellinger — Des étoiles aux épices, le cuisinier corsaire L'Ombrière · €10
- 19:30 Anne-Solenne Hatte — Saveurs d'Exil — rencontre avec la réalisatrice Cinéma Le Capitole · €10
- 20:30 Nicolas Fontaine & Vivien Sonzogni — Dîner Comté au Prieuré Saint-Nicolas Prieuré Saint-Nicolas · €10
- 20:30 Mathieu Viannay, Olivier Couvin & Benjamin Delille — Dîner Paul Bocuse au Domaine de Panéry Domaine de Panéry · €10
Saturday 10 October
16 events
- 10:00 Nadia Sammut, Anthony Berthou, Emmanuelle Philip & Pierre-Yves Rommelaere — Le pois chiche : le bio du futur ? L'Ombrière · €10
- 10:00 Sonia Ezgulian — « My Little Arménie », la cuisine en héritage Librairie de la Place aux Herbes — petit amphithéâtre · €10
- 10:30 Vivien Sonzogni & Emmanuel Perrodin — Le Comté dans tous ses états Loggia · €10
- 10:30 En présence de la vigneronne Christine Vernay — Les Chaillées de l'Enfer — rencontre avec l'équipe du film Cinéma Le Capitole · €10
- 11:30 Brandon Dehan — Leçon de praliné Librairie de la Place aux Herbes — petit amphithéâtre · €10
- 14:00 Olivier Couvin, Gautier Battistella & Laurent Suaudeau — Bocuse ne meurt jamais — légende et héritage d'un héros français L'Ombrière · €10
- 14:00 FeGH — Frédérick Ernestine Grasser Humair — « Le geste par Fegh », les 100 outils qui sauvent en cuisine Librairie de la Place aux Herbes — petit amphithéâtre · €10
- 14:00 Sonia Lounès — Parlez-vous piment ? Loggia · €10
- 16:00 Whoogy's — Tous les jours c'est « Daylicieux » — leçon de cuisine du quotidien Librairie de la Place aux Herbes — petit amphithéâtre · €10
- 16:00 Brandon Dehan — Les secrets du praliné enfin dévoilés Loggia · €10
- 16:00 Julien Soulié — La grande dictée culinaire Cinéma Le Capitole · free
- 18:00 L'École de Mixologie & Épices Cook — Mon cours de cocktails Loggia · €10
- 18:00 Bartolo Calderone, Alessandra Pierini & Stéphane Solier — Pizza vivante — une autre façon de penser la pizza L'Ombrière · €10
- 20:00 En présence de Thomas Chabrol et Olivier Roellinger — À la table de Chabrol Cinéma Le Capitole · €10
- 20:30 Mathieu Viannay, Olivier Couvin & Benjamin Delille — Dîner Paul Bocuse au Domaine de Panéry Domaine de Panéry · €10
- 20:30 Nicolas Fontaine & Vivien Sonzogni — Dîner Comté au Prieuré Saint-Nicolas Prieuré Saint-Nicolas · €10
Sunday 11 October
7 events
- 10:00 Sébastien Rath & Épices Cook — Les ravioles végétales, herbes & épices Loggia · €10
- 10:00 AOP Duché d'Uzès & Comité de promotion agricole — Le marché des producteurs et des artisans Place aux Herbes · free
- 10:30 Nadia Sammut & Olivier Baussan — Pistache, nouvel or vert Librairie de la Place aux Herbes — petit amphithéâtre · €10
- 11:00 François-Régis Gaudry — « On va déguster » met le couvert à Uzès — émission en direct L'Ombrière · free
- 12:30 Bartolo Calderone — Pizza au levain naturel : gestes, pâtes et cuisson Loggia · €10
- 14:00 Pierre Coulon — La cuisine made in Normandie Librairie de la Place aux Herbes — petit amphithéâtre · €10
- 16:00 Cyril Lignac — Des fourneaux aux plateaux : une success story à la française — clôture du festival L'Ombrière · €10
Put the whole programme in your calendar
All 38 events as a single .ics file, with venues and prices —
so you can see the clashes before you book rather than after.
Tickets: €10, and no pass
One price for everything: €10 per event, free for under-15s, and 5 events that cost nothing at all. There is no day pass and no festival pass, and that absence is the one thing worth understanding before you book.
Because every ticket is sold separately, nothing stops you buying two events that run at the same hour in two different venues. On Friday at 2pm, Hélène Darroze is at L'Ombrière and Louis-Albert de Broglie is at the bookshop. On Saturday at 2pm, three events start at once. Work out your route through the programme above first, then book.
Booking is on the festival's own site, in French. Two words that get you through it: billetterie is ticketing, complet means sold out.
Festival ticketing →Getting there, and staying
There is no station in Uzès
- Train: Nîmes (2h45 from Paris by TGV, 1h50 from Lyon), Nîmes Pont du Gard or Avignon — then about 40 minutes by car.
- Bus: liO line 115 (Avignon–Uzès–Alès), line 152 (Nîmes–Uzès–Saint-Ambroix).
- Car: A9 exit Remoulins, A7 exit Avignon.
- Air: Nîmes is nearest, then Montpellier, Avignon, Marseille.
Parking, and the Saturday problem
The old town is pedestrianised. Use the car parks on the ring boulevards and come early.
Saturday 10 October is also market day — the busiest morning of the week in Uzès, and the festival's fullest day, on the same square. Park before 8am or accept a walk.
Book a room when you book your tickets
Early October is still a good month in the Gard, and the festival fills the town. Rooms in the old town go first.
Eating during the festival
Nine tables serve the festival — the two long lunches outside town at the Prieuré Saint-Nicolas and the Domaine de Panéry, five restaurants the festival relays, one restaurant's own festival menu, and the free forecourt at L'Ombrière. The festival centralises none of their bookings: each one is a separate phone call or form, and its own website scatters them across three pages.
We put all nine in one place, with prices and how to book each. That page is in French — but it is a table of names, times and prices, which survives a translation tool better than an hour-long conversation does.
Où manger pendant le festival (French)Questions English-speaking visitors ask
When is the Saveurs & Savoirs festival 2026? +
The 4th edition runs from Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 October 2026 in Uzès, in the Gard department of southern France. It opens on Thursday at 6:30pm at L'Ombrière with chef Jean Sulpice, and closes on Sunday at 4pm with Cyril Lignac at the same venue. In between there are 38 events across 4 days and 9 venues.
What language are the events in? +
French. Every talk, demonstration and screening is held in French, and neither the festival nor the Uzès–Pont du Gard tourist office announces any translation or interpreting. If your French is limited, the cooking demonstrations, the producers' market on Sunday, the meatball contest and the free tastings are the events that work best — they are as much watching as listening.
How much are tickets? +
€10 per event, whatever the event and whoever the guest — there is no premium price for the headline chefs. Under-15s go free. 5 events on the programme are free for everyone. There is no day pass and no festival pass: each event is booked separately.
Where do I buy tickets? +
Through the festival's own ticketing site, https://billetterie.festivalsaveursetsavoirs.fr/. It is in French only. Book early for the headline names: with venues this small, the Darroze, Roellinger, Lignac and Sulpice talks are the first to sell out.
Is there a festival pass? +
No. The festival sells single tickets only, at €10 each. This matters more than it sounds: several events run at the same time in different venues, so it is easy to buy two tickets you cannot both use. Plan your route through the programme before you book.
Where does it take place? +
Across 9 venues in and around Uzès. The main ones are all inside the old town and within a 5–10 minute walk of each other: L'Ombrière (the main hall), the Loggia (demonstrations), the bookshop on Place aux Herbes, the Capitole cinema and the médiathèque. Two of the long lunches are held outside town, at the Prieuré Saint-Nicolas and the Domaine de Panéry.
Is it suitable for children? +
Yes, and under-15s get in free. The junior meatball contest opens the festival on Thursday at midday, and the Sunday producers' market on Place aux Herbes is free and open to all. The talks themselves are long-form conversations in French — better suited to teenagers than to small children.
How do I get to Uzès? +
There is no railway station in Uzès. The nearest are Nîmes (2h45 from Paris by TGV), Nîmes Pont du Gard and Avignon; from there it is around 40 minutes by car. Buses run with liO line 115 (Avignon–Uzès–Alès) and line 152 (Nîmes–Uzès–Saint-Ambroix). By air, Nîmes is closest, then Montpellier, Avignon and Marseille.
Where should I park? +
The centre of Uzès is pedestrianised. Aim for the car parks on the ring boulevards rather than the old town, and arrive early — the festival fills the town, and Saturday is also market day, which is the busiest morning of the week.
Is the festival accessible for wheelchair users? +
Most venues are accessible. The exception is the small amphitheatre inside the bookshop on Place aux Herbes. For accessible seating at L'Ombrière, call +33 4 48 21 57 40. Assistance dogs aside, animals are not admitted to festival venues.
Who runs the festival? +
The Association Saveurs & Savoirs, with the food critic and broadcaster François-Régis Gaudry and the journalist Charles Patin O'Coohoon. Gaudry presents On va déguster on France Inter, and hosts several of the festival's conversations himself.
Where can I eat during the festival? +
Nine tables serve the festival, and the festival itself does not centralise any of their bookings — the two long lunches outside town, five restaurants it relays, one restaurant's own festival menu, and the free forecourt at L'Ombrière. We list all nine, with prices and how to book each one, on our French-language page.
8–11 October, Uzès sits down to eat
Hello Uzès is an independent guide written from Uzès. We have no connection to the festival, the town hall or the tourist office — which is why we will tell you the talks are in French.
Programme last checked against the festival's published sources on 27 September 2026.