France has only two public holidays in the festive season, Christmas Day (25 December) and New Year's Day (1 January), so 26 December is a normal working day almost everywhere, except in Alsace and Moselle, where it is a holiday. The big nights are the Réveillon de Noël on 24 December and the Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre on 31 December, the long dinners that end at midnight. In Paris, the main New Year's gathering is on the Champs-Élysées, not at the Eiffel Tower, where there is no New Year's fireworks show. This guide covers the dates, the food, what Paris does on 31 December and what the city has not yet announced.
The 2026/27 programmes for 31 December are published in December. Where something is not confirmed, this guide says so.
Réveillon de Noël: 24 December
French Christmas is built around dinner on the 24th, often after midnight mass. The classic menu is oysters and foie gras, a roast (turkey or capon) and, for dessert, the bûche de Noël, a rolled sponge cake shaped like a Yule log.
Bûches de Noël in a pastry shop window. Image: Syced, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In Provence the dinner ends with the treize desserts (thirteen desserts), a table of fruit, nuts, nougat and sweet bread.
The thirteen desserts of a Provençal Christmas. Image: iamericat, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre: 31 December
On 31 December 2026, a Thursday, the French eat a late dinner, often with champagne, and kiss at midnight under the mistletoe ("au gui l'an neuf"). Restaurants offer fixed-price menus.
Paris: the traditional place to be at midnight is the Champs-Élysées. At the last New Year the city kept the countdown and the fireworks over the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe, though the concerts and shows planned there were cancelled. The Eiffel Tower, by contrast, has no New Year's Eve fireworks; the tower's fireworks are on 14 July, and the only New Year exception was in 2000. The City of Paris and the police prefecture usually announce the arrangements a few weeks before, including which metro stations near the Champs-Élysées close and where crowds are channelled. They have not announced the 2026 plan yet.
The Champs-Élysées with its Christmas lights. Image: Tangopaso, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Elsewhere: Lyon, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Marseille and the other big cities hold their own midnight events, and many towns put on a municipal fireworks display. Check the city's website in December for the local plan.
Epiphany: the galette des rois
Epiphany, the arrival of the Three Kings, is celebrated in France on the first Sunday after 1 January, which in 2027 is Sunday 3 January. The tradition is to eat a galette des rois, a round puff-pastry cake filled with almond cream (in the south, a brioche ring called gâteau des rois). A small porcelain figure, the fève, is hidden inside, and whoever finds it wears the paper crown and is king or queen for the day. Bakeries sell the galette throughout January.
A galette des rois. Image: Lionel Allorge, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Christmas markets and lights: the 2026 dates
France's best-known Christmas markets are in Alsace, and the dates below are the ones the cities have published for 2026 (see our guides to each for hours and what to see):
- Strasbourg: the Christkindelsmärik runs from Friday 27 November to Thursday 24 December, every day from 11:30 to 21:00 (closing at 18:00 on 24 December), with free entry.
- Colmar: six markets from Monday 23 November to Tuesday 29 December, with the gourmet market, the Ferris wheel and the Place Rapp fair open until 3 January 2027.
- Reims: about 150 chalets from Wednesday 25 November to Sunday 27 December, closed on Christmas Day.
- Paris: the market beside Notre-Dame runs from Thursday 26 November to Sunday 27 December, and the larger market at La Défense from 12 November to 31 December. Both are free.
- Lyon: the Fête des Lumières runs over four evenings, Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 December, with light installations across the centre of the city; the candles that Lyon residents put in their windows on 8 December are the older tradition behind it.
Paris is not a Christmas-market city in the way Strasbourg or Colmar are: there is no single historic market, and which smaller ones return changes from year to year.
Opening hours published for 2026: Colmar's markets are open 11:00–19:00 Monday to Thursday and 10:00–20:00 Friday to Sunday, closing at 17:00 on Christmas Eve. Reims is open Tuesday to Thursday from 11:30 to 21:00, Friday from 11:30 to 22:00 and Saturday from 10:00 to 22:00 until 20 December, with different hours in the school holidays. The Notre-Dame market in Paris is open 10:00–20:00 Monday to Thursday and Sunday, and 10:00–21:00 on Friday and Saturday. Strasbourg and Colmar are half an hour apart by train, so they combine well as a two-day trip.
The season at a glance
- 12 November to 31 December: La Défense Christmas market, Paris.
- 23 to 27 November: the Alsace and Champagne markets open (Colmar, Strasbourg, Reims, Paris–Notre-Dame).
- 5 to 8 December: Fête des Lumières, Lyon.
- 24 December: Réveillon de Noël; Strasbourg's market closes at 18:00.
- 25 December: public holiday (26 December only in Alsace and Moselle).
- 31 December: Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre; the Champs-Élysées plan is announced in December.
- 1 January: public holiday.
- 3 January 2027: Epiphany Sunday, the galette des rois.
What's open
On 25 December and 1 January, most shops, many restaurants and several museums are closed, and public transport runs a reduced timetable. 26 December is a working day in most of the country, so shops are open, but the winter sales (soldes d'hiver) only start in January. Check hours before you go.
Tips
- Book dinner early: restaurants fill up weeks ahead for 24 and 31 December, and charge a fixed price.
- Do not plan on the Eiffel Tower: there is no New Year's fireworks show there; for the Champs-Élysées, wait for the city's announcement and expect security checks and closed streets.
- Buy the galette in January: bakeries sell it for the whole month, not only on Epiphany Sunday.
- Check transport: timetables on the night of 31 December are adjusted and usually published a few days ahead.
