D-Day Festival in Normandy

Every year, Normandy’s D-Day Festival commemorates the arrival of the allied liberators during World War II and celebrates France’s new-found freedom.

Visitors enjoy a jam-packed programme of cultural events including parachute demonstrations, military vehicle parades and reconstitutions of military camps, firework displays, concerts and dances, giant picnics, book fairs and dedicated exhibitions. With more than 110 events in total, it’s a poignant reflection on the region’s history.

Combine the festival with a visit to the individual D-Day Beaches, which still bear their code names – Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. Museums such as the Musée du Débarquement at Utah Beach or the Centre Juno Beach in Courseulles-sur-Mer highlight educational activities for children. The D-Day Beaches can be explored in a number of active ways, too: by sand yacht (at Utah Beach), by boat (the remains of the Pont Artificiel d'Arromanches) or in a military Jeep.

Bayeux, Normandy