Vendanges de Montmartre 93rd: Music Sets the Rhythm Oct 7–11

Fashion week is over; the Butte takes over. From today through Sunday, Montmartre celebrates its 93rd harvest festival — five days of music, parades, tastings and neighbourhood joy across the 18th arrondissement, most of it free. This is the complete guide: the day-by-day, the parade, the tastings, and the rainy-day museum backup.

From the press box — Elena Marsh: Festival via Ville de Paris (Oct 7–11, 93rd, free, music theme), official site (Le 18e donne le rythme; Ban, Défilé, Parcours du Goût, non-demandes, Bal), sortiraparis (Clos visits, kids’ programme, Bal DJ set Oct 11), dansparis (booking status Sep 14: Clos full, Scène open, bus full, calendar contradiction on tasting dates); exhibitions via parisjetaime (Louvre Zurbarán Oct 7, Bourse Remember Me Oct 7, Orsay Oct 6, Cézanne, Monet, Bartholdi) and Orsay/Grand Palais listings. Culture and landscape only — no alcohol content, no drink prices, ever.

Now: five days on the Butte

October 7–11, 93rd edition, theme: “Le 18e donne le rythme” — music as the universal language, sung, played, danced and shared across generations, cultures and borders. Five eclectic days across the whole arrondissement: concerts, shows, encounters, tastings, discoveries — culture, gastronomy and community setting the rhythm. Free throughout; booking advised for some events. The Butte’s vineyard heritage (once the hill’s vineyard heartland) meets fifty brotherhoods from France and beyond. Fashion month’s spotlights dim; the neighbourhood’s music starts. Five days, one hill, zero tickets for most of it.

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The theme: music sets the rhythm

2026’s theme — “Le 18e donne le rythme” — puts music at the centre: sung, played, danced, shared across generations, cultures and borders. Concerts, choirs, dances, musical parades all week; the closing DJ set; drinking-songs concerts; the children’s grand choir Thursday. Music as universal language in the most village-like corner of Paris: the Butte sings for five days. Follow the tempo of a neighbourhood in motion — where creation is shared and conviviality celebrated. The 18th sets the rhythm; the city dances to it.

Saturday: the Grand Défilé

Saturday Oct 10, 11:45–13:30: the Grand Défilé — from Clos Montmartre to the Mairie du 18e, ~1,400 participants, 50+ wine, gastronomic and traditional brotherhoods alongside residents and local associations. Free, along the Montmartre streets, the slope part of the programme. Morning: Ban des Vendanges 9:45–11:30 (rue des Saules, invitation only). Also Saturday: Lola (1961) screening at La Fémis (10:30–13:00, no booking, limited capacity), vintage bus rides (Jardin Jane Vialle, every 45 min 12:00–16:30, booking required — FULL, watch cancellations). The parade is the week’s heartbeat: popular, unifying, unmissable. Be on the slope by 11:30 — the Butte fills fast.

Tastings: the Parcours du Goût

Around Sacré-Cœur: the Parcours du Goût — stroll, exchange, taste and share at the festival’s gourmet rendezvous, spotlighting young talents and local initiatives between living traditions and new inspirations. Caution: the official sheet contradicts itself (badge Oct 9–11 vs hours Oct 10–12, and the 12th is outside the festival) — check the live official page before going. Around it: Scène des Vendanges concerts (Arènes de Montmartre, free, registration OPEN), urban symphony fanfare (departure Grand Parquet, free), drinking-songs concert (free, registration OPEN). Taste the neighbourhood, meet the makers, follow the music. The Butte eats and drinks culture — join the table.

Vineyard: the Clos (full!)

The Clos Montmartre vineyard visits (14 Rue des Saules) — open only on this occasion — are already FULL (Friday 14:00/16:00 slots gone). Watch for cancellations; the vineyard is the festival’s soul, glimpsed once a year. Consolation: guided neighbourhood walks, themed tours, visual-art shows, the kids’ boom (gymnase Dauvin, leisure-centre kids), Thursday children’s grand choir (Square Louise-Michel/Place Saint-Pierre). The vines rest; the hill celebrates. Book everything else now — the free slots go first.

Sunday: the closing Bal

Sunday Oct 11, 16:30–19:30: the Bal de clôture — Square Louise-Michel transformed into a giant dancefloor, festive DJ set with ICI Paris, sing-every-generation hits plus musical discoveries. Free, all ages, the 18th vibrating at one rhythm. Also Sunday: non-demandes en mariage ceremony (the festival’s wink at commitment). End five days dancing, downhill from the Basilica as the lights come on. The harvest ends in music — as it should, as it always does.

With kids: the family programme

Days are family-friendly, evenings festive. Thursday: children’s grand choir (Square Louise-Michel/Place Saint-Pierre, three slots) — hundreds of young voices opening the music theme. Kids’ boom at the gymnase plus themed walks, visual-art shows, and Butte history trails. The Défilé delights all ages; the Bal welcomes all feet. Mornings for the kids, afternoons for all, Sunday evening for everyone dancing. The Butte raises its young on music — five days, three generations, one hill. The 93rd edition sings loudest yet — don’t miss a single note.

Rainy backup: exhibitions week

October rains? The museums open big this week. From Oct 7: Louvre Zurbarán + Sculpting Colour (Spanish Golden Age to Jan 25) and Bourse Remember Me (photography bicentenary, 700+ works by 70+ artists). From Oct 6: Orsay (I Spend My Life Painting, Vertigo Peduzzi, Mary Cassatt display) plus Bartholdi/Liberty (America250!). Running: Grand Palais Cézanne (Sep 23–Jan 17), Marmottan Monet centenary, Petit Palais Eva Gonzalès, Jacquemart-André Tintoretto, FLV Fayet (from Oct 9), Art Basel Paris Oct 23–25 next. Culture stacks like the Butte’s slopes — climb them all.

Getting there: strike day ten, slopes included

The Butte has no metro at the top anyway — on foot, as ever. Day ten of the open-ended strike (notices to Oct 20): lines 1/14 spine, app line by line, twenty minutes on everything. Montmartre stations (Abbesses, Anvers, Blanche, Lamarck) plus the climb — the slope is part of the programme, strike or not. Free festival, walking city, music everywhere. Nine days of fashion walked; five days of harvest to dance. The hill calls — answer on foot.