Travel Events

Travel Festivals

Stalls, conferences, debates, and above all screenings at these events, most of which are created by and for travellers.

ABM Festival(s)

Whether in Paris or the regions, the ABM association organises several festivals each year, now essential gatherings for many travellers.

1- Globe-Trotters Festival

• Organised by ABM in September, over 3 days, in Massy (91)

• Three days of dreams, emotion, and authentic encounters on the theme of travel and human adventure. France’s largest gathering of travellers. Over 3,500 m², more than 40 films and slideshows, debates, stalls covering around a hundred destinations, a photo competition, buffets, and more.

• First edition: 1989.

2- Travel Differently Festival

• Organised by ABM in April, over 2 days, in Paris.

• A complement to the Globe-Trotters Festival, but with a more targeted approach to travel, focusing on responsible, solidarity-based, ecological, and social travel.

• First edition: 2008.

3- ABM Regional Festivals

• Around ten of the association’s branches also host one- or two-day festivals.

Aux 4 coins du monde

• Organised by the association of the same name in February-March, over three days, in Chartres de Bretagne (35).

• A festival that welcomes filmmakers, adventurers, great travellers, and other globetrotters.

• First edition: 1998.

Culture-Aventure Festival

• Organised by the Culture-Aventure association, on several dates in the first half of the year, in Paris.

• An event that allows the public to meet long-term travellers and share their films or slideshows. Thanks to its stalls, the festival is also an opportunity to discover travel writers, associations, and photo exhibitions.

• First edition: 2007.

Partance Festival

• Organised by the Terres et Peuples association in March, over a weekend, in Toulouse (31).

• This "images, travel, adventure" festival aims to be a space for escapism, conviviality, and exchange between travellers.

• First edition: 2004.

Bicycle Travel Festival

• Organised by CCI in January, over one day, in Saint-Denis (93).

• Organised for over 25 years by the Cyclo-Camping International association, this is the annual gathering for bicycle travellers (and other lovers of this mode of transport), featuring stalls and screenings.

• First edition: 1986.

Le Grand Bivouac

• Organised by the town in October-November, over three or four days, in Albertville (73).

• A long weekend dedicated to conferences, screenings, activities, exhibitions, meetings, and debates on the theme of travel and discovery.

• First edition: 2002.

The Adventure Screens

• Organised by the European Guild of Raid in October, over three days, in Dijon (21).

• The Dijon International Adventure Film Festival offers the public films, debates, meetings, and exhibitions around adventure and its current events each year.

• First edition: 1992.

Curious Travellers

• Organised by the association of the same name in March, over three days, in Saint-Étienne (42).

• One of the oldest travel festivals, taking place in two parts: in January, the selection of speakers, and in March, the "official days" with stalls, activities, and public screenings.

• First edition: 1984.

Other travel festivals

Asian Connection: Each year, three feature films related to Asia are funded by private and institutional partners, as well as the general public, and presented the following year in Lyon (69) in November.

Travel Journal Biennale: A competition and meetings over a November weekend in Clermont-Ferrand (63), centred around travel journals and travel writers.

Amazing Travellers: During Pentecost in Saint-Malo (35), a festival celebrating adventure and travel books, featuring writers from around the world.

Artisan-Travellers Festival: Near Angers (49), in Pellouailles-les-Vignes, four days of encounters in October with screenings, exhibitions, and other activities on the theme of the world, its peoples, wildlife, flora, and traditions.

Jules Verne Exploration Film Festival: Four themed days in Paris.

International Maritime and Exploration Film Festival: One of the oldest festivals, started in the late 1960s. In Toulon (83) for a week in September-October.

Itineraries of Travelling Photographers Festival: Late March to early April, photographic exhibitions on the theme of travel presented in various locations in Bordeaux (33).

Bird and Nature Festival: A full week in April in Abbeville and the Bay of Somme (80).

Images from Elsewhere: A long weekend in September-October for this festival combining screenings, conferences, exhibitions, and various activities in Saint-Valery-en-Caux (76).

Itinerances: A weekend of screenings in January on the theme of travel, adventure, and reporting, organised in Allaire (56).

Polar Nights/Objective Adventure: Two days in February in Paris dedicated to the Far North ("Polar Nights") or travel in general ("Objective Adventure"), with screenings and debates.

Adventure Book Fair: Every two years, in Vernon (27), a March weekend dedicated to travel writers who have explored other peoples and lands.

Outdoor and Travel Festival: In May-June, in Quebec City and Montreal, each for three days, with over a hundred exhibitors, workshops, conferences, and screenings to inspire travel.

Conferences and Screenings

Whether screenings or buffet-screenings, several associations organise conferences throughout the year, in Paris and the regions.

Following this model, the ABM association offers numerous screenings in Paris and its twenty or so branches. Also worth noting are Cyclo Camping International and Culture-Aventure in Paris, plus Connaissance et Communication in Toulouse.

In a more "institutional" vein, several conference circuits also tour France and Belgium continuously. For the main ones, see: Connaissance du monde and Peuples et images.

Finally, regular conferences are also organised by some travel agencies, such as Arts et vie (culture, heritage, etc.).

Travel Fairs and Exhibitions

Whether much more mainstream or exclusively professional, many cities host annual events related to travel and tourism. Most of these events primarily feature stalls from agencies, tourist offices, and similar organisations. Information is generally well relayed by local or national media.

Of the 70 to 80 "generalist" travel fairs held each year in France, the Paris Mondial du Tourisme attracts the most visitors, with over 100,000. Next are the Mahana in Lille and Tourissima in Lyon (45,000 to 50,000), the Toulouse Tourism Fair (43,000), the Rennes Fair (40,000), and the Nantes Fair (38,000).

Main public events

Paris Mondial du Tourisme: Four days in March at Paris-Porte de Versailles for this major public fair, still the most visited in France. The same organisation runs the Mahana in Lyon and Toulouse, and the Tourissima in Lille.

Destination Nature: Three days at the end of March at Paris-Porte de Versailles dedicated to hiking and trekking.

Colmar Tourism Fair: Every year in November, one of France’s oldest tourism fairs.

Monte Carlo Travel Market: In December or January, in Monaco, a fair for exceptional and luxury travel.

Primarily professional

ITB Berlin: In February/March, the ITB remains THE reference for European tourism fairs, with thousands of exhibitors.

IFTM: Formerly Top Résa, this is the annual "major event" (in September) for tourism professionals in Paris.