Les Médiévales de Provins

Guédelon Castle (living medieval construction site)

Treigny, France

Guédelon is a 13th-century castle being built from scratch in a Burgundy forest quarry using only the tools, materials and techniques of the 1230s, open to visitors from spring to autumn since the first stone was laid in 1997. Around forty masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, tilers, rope-makers and carters work in front of the public, and the site draws roughly 300,000 visitors a season.

Tournoi de Chevalerie de Carcassonne (Knights' Tournament and Falconry Show)

Carcassonne, France

Every summer the lices between the double walls of the Cité de Carcassonne host a daily knights' tournament, a 45-minute show of mounted combat in armour, billed in 2026 as 'Tournois de chevalerie et spectacle de fauconnerie' after a falconry display was added. The 2026 season runs from 12 July to 27 August with three performances a day, every day except Saturday.

Festival Médiéval de la Rose d'Or

Avignon, France

Every autumn some 60 to 70 historical associations camp on the Île de la Barthelasse, the island in the Rhône facing the Palais des Papes, for a re-enactors' festival with a market, archery, tournaments and a closing battle. Running since 2007 and organised by volunteers without public subsidy, it is one of the largest medieval gatherings in southern France; the 2026 edition, billed as the twentieth, falls on 10–11 October.

Horsens Medieval Festival

Horsens, Denmark

Horsens Middelalderfestival turns FÆNGSLET, the town's former state prison, into a medieval town for two days at the end of August, with knights, craftsmen, musicians, a market and hundreds of costumed participants. Run by the municipality since 1995 and free to enter, it calls itself northern Europe's largest medieval festival and draws around 100,000 visitors.

England's Medieval Festival

Nutley, England

England's Medieval Festival is a three-day jousting, living-history and market festival over the August bank holiday weekend, with camping, evening entertainment and a large 'Kid's Kingdom'. Founded in 1993 at Herstmonceux Castle, it moved in 2023 to The King's Grove at Pippingford Park in the Ashdown Forest, East Sussex.

Jornadas Medievales de Ávila (Mercado de las Tres Culturas)

Ávila, Spain

Ávila's Jornadas Medievales turn the walled UNESCO city into the 'Market of the Three Cultures' for four days on the first weekend of September, with more than 300 stalls, around 150 free shows, nine mounted tournaments and a grand parade recalling the town's Christian, Jewish and Muslim past. Held since 1997 and declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest, it drew about 130,000 visitors in 2025.

Planning

What to Wear to a Medieval Festival (and What to Put in the Bag)

No festival on our list makes you dress up, but some gates charge less if you do. Boots, layers, wool over polyester, the £30 costume, and what goes in the bag.

Tom Saxby · 7 min read · 18 Aug 2026

City Guide

Medieval Carcassonne: The Fortress, the Restorer and the Summer Jousts

How much of Carcassonne's Cité is 13th-century and how much is Viollet-le-Duc, what happened in 1209, when the summer jousts run in the lices, and when to go.

Elke Brandt · 8 min read · 4 Aug 2026