Paris is bursting into autumn color this week, and today, Wednesday October 7, the city welcomes the opening of the 93rd Fête des Vendanges de Montmartre. The five-day celebration begins at the 18th arrondissement town hall with a public musical evening, subject to available space. Throughout today, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, visitors can also reserve guided tours of the Clos Montmartre vineyard, one of Paris’s most unexpected little pockets of countryside.
The festival gathers momentum on Thursday October 8. At Square Louise-Michel, a large children’s choir will perform popular songs from several generations, while Montmartre hosts a five-kilometer night race in the evening. If you plan to explore the neighborhood by car, allow extra time: streets along the race route are expected to close temporarily between 6 and 11 p.m.
From Friday October 9 through Sunday October 11, make time for the festival’s Parcours du Goût. Around one hundred producers and winegrowers will set up near Sacré-Cœur, along Rue Azaïs, Rue Saint-Éleuthère, Rue Cardinal-Guibert, Rue Cardinal-Dubois, and the surrounding forecourt. The food market runs from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, then until 7 p.m. Sunday. It is an excellent chance to taste regional specialties and meet the people who make them.
Saturday October 10 is the festival’s headline day. The traditional grape harvest ceremony takes place in the morning at Clos Montmartre, followed at 11:45 a.m. by a colorful parade featuring more than fifty brotherhoods from France and abroad. The procession travels through Rue des Saules, Rue de l’Abreuvoir, Rue Girardon, Avenue Junot, and Rue Caulaincourt. Expect crowds and temporary traffic restrictions from about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For something more scientific, Sorbonne University’s Science Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday at the Pierre-and-Marie-Curie campus beside Jussieu metro station. More than eighty free activities explore taste, food, and cooking through workshops, demonstrations, games, exhibitions, laboratory visits, and conversations with researchers. Registration is required for many activities.
Sunday brings the 20km de Paris, starting beneath the Eiffel Tower, with proceeds supporting the Grégory Lemarchal Association. Families can also look for the 20Kids race on Saturday. At Théâtre du Châtelet, the Urban Châtelet festival presents Korean and French urban dance, including choreography, improvisation, and breakdance.
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