The Festival Médiéval de la Rose d’Or is a re-enactors’ festival held each autumn on the Île de la Barthelasse, the long island in the Rhône directly opposite Avignon’s ramparts and the Palais des Papes. It has been staged since 2007 by a volunteer association that takes no public subsidy, and the 2026 edition on 10 and 11 October is billed by the organisers and by Avignon Tourisme as its twentieth.
The weekend has two distinct halves. Saturday belongs to the participants: between 60 and 70 historical associations, and by the organisers’ count 1,000 to 1,200 people in costume covering the 9th to the 15th centuries, set up camps across a site of about 9,000 m². On the Saturday afternoon the whole company parades in costume through the streets of Avignon to the Palais des Papes, which is the part of the festival most visitors see without paying. On Sunday the camp site itself opens to the public, from 10:00 to 18:00.
The public day is built around camp life rather than a stage programme: craft demonstrations and workshops, a medieval market, musicians and troubadours moving between the tents, archery competitions and knights’ tournaments in the morning, a medieval cooking contest at midday, games that pull spectators in during the afternoon, a sweet-firing catapult for children at about 16:30 and a final mass battle at around 17:00.
Entry was €6 for anyone aged 12 and over in 2025 and 2026, with under-12s free, sold on the gate and online through Billetweb; the association says ticket sales and the tavern are what pay for the event. The venue is the Centre de loisirs de la Barthelasse, 8 chemin de la Barthelasse, which is on the island rather than inside the walls — from the old town it is a crossing by the Pont Daladier.
Two things worth knowing before you plan around it. This is a modern re-enactment festival, not a surviving local tradition, and it has nothing to do with the Festival d’Avignon, the contemporary theatre festival held in the city every July. And the weekend moves: the 2025 edition was held on 27–28 September, the 2026 edition falls on 10–11 October, so check the tourist office listing before booking.
