Wine, Art, and Imagination: What to Expect at the 91st Fête des Vendanges de Montmartre
If you’re ever in Paris in October then there’s one party you won’t want to miss: the Fête des Vendanges de Montmartre.
The 91st edition of this much-loved festival, which celebrates the grape harvest from the vineyards of Clos Montmartre (one of the few remaining vineyards in Paris), runs from October 9 to 13 this year. It will see the 18th arrondissement come alive with parades, street shows, races, concerts, poetry and more, all on the theme of l’Imaginaire (The Imaginary).
The event is just perfect for gastronauts. At the foot of Sacré-Coeur, you’ll find the Taste Trail, made up of around 100 producers and winegrowers from all over France, all keen to share their savoir-faire and a taster of the products from their regions.
If you want to learn more about the wine itself and Clos Montmartre, join historian and lecturer Jean-Manuel Gabert, who specialises in the history of the vines and Montmartre, on a tour of the vineyard in the heart of the Butte Montmartre.
The Fête des Vendanges has been celebrated since 1934, although Montmartre’s vineyards can actually be traced all the way back to the Romans, who grew vines on the district’s northern slopes back when Paris was still Lutetia. By the 20th century, the vineyards had largely disappeared thanks to a combination of urban development and phylloxera. Then, in 1933, artist Francisque Poulbot and a group of friends petitioned to save a plot of land from becoming an apartment block – and won. The City of Paris planted vines there instead, and by 1934, they were producing wine, prompting the first edition of the harvest festival. Today, the vineyard, which is still managed by the city, produces about 1,500 half-litre bottles a year.
All events are free, unless otherwise stated in the festival programme (some have to be booked in advance regardless). This includes the accompanying music festival, Décibels Vendanges, which is staging a series of live music concerts – pop, rock, folk, rap, funk and electro – at three different venues in the 18th arrondissement.
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