Corsica Events

There is a breathtaking number of public holidays and special events celebrated in Corsica. July, August and September are particularly busy months for this partying population. In typical French style, a surfeit of events are food and produce related, others are religious, and many have a music focus.

Among the highlights of February is Renno's A Tumbera: Foire du Porc Coureur, a festival that celebrates a Corsican variety of mountain pig. Held during Holy Week in March or April, La Passion is a major Corsican-language event retracing the Passion of Christ. Also at this time is the Processions de la Semaine Sainte; the most famous processions are those in Bonifacio and Sartène. April is the month for food. Easter weekend in Piedicroce features A Merendella in Castagniccia, a fair for local farm products, while Journée du Brocciu, held in Piana at the end of April, celebrates Corsica's world-famous cheese.

On 2 June the fishing boats are blessed for St-Érasme in Ajaccio, Bastia and Calvi. July features the island's leading annual wine event, Foire de Vi de Luri, on Cap Corse; and in Bastia there's the Relève des Gouverneurs, a costume pageant retracing the arrival of the Genoese governors. Also in July, you can catch one of Europe's largest guitar festivals, the Nuits de la Guitare à Patrimonio, in this small village about 10km (6.2mi) west of Bastia. Fêtes Napoléoniennes d'Ajaccio culminates on 15 August, the birthday of the city's leading native son. September sees the Recontres de Chants Polyphoniques de Calvi in the fantastic setting of the citadel. In December the oldest and most important fair in Corsica, Foire à la Chataigne, held in Bocognano, honours the humble chestnut.

Public Holidays: 1 January - New Year's Day
March or April - Easter Sunday and Monday
1 May - Labour Day
8 May - Victoire 1945 (VE) Day
40th day after Easter - Ascension
8th Sunday & Monday after Easter - Pentecost/Whit Sunday & Monday
14 July - Bastille Day
15 August - Assumption Day (Napoleon's birthday)
1 November - All Saints' Day
11 November - Armistice Day
25 December - Christmas