Cultural events
Theatre, dance, street arts - in the Vendée, there is a constant stream of cultural events throughout the year:
The Cinéscénie® du Puy du Fou: The world's biggest stage!
On a stage of more than 20 hectares, with technical facilities that are out of the ordinary for this unique dramatic & musical work - 1,100 actors and the participation of the greatest performers (Alain Delon , Jean Piat, Robert Hossein and composer Nick Glennie-Smith). With cinema-quality sound and a veritable deluge of special effects, you'll relive the hours of glory of Puy du Fou from the Middle Ages to the Second World War as though you had been there. Almost 2 hours of intense emotion and 700 years of history result in a giant fresco which has already seduced more than 8 million spectators.
Please note, advance reservation is compulsory. From June to beginning of September : fridays and saturdays evenings.- Festival des abbayes at Nieul-sur-l'Autise, Maillezais, and at St Prouant: The Festival of Abbeys brings musical echoes to the stones of the abbey church and cloister at Nieul sur l'Autise, the Romanesque church at Maillezais and the Priory at Grammont. The programmes offer a choice of concerts of very high quality, based on ancient, mediaeval and sacred music, in May and June.
Saint Jazz sur Vie at St Gilles Croix de Vie: This festival is held each year on Pentecost weekend, and is a convivial event. This is a major event, where everyone swings to the sound of traditional jazz. For a period of one week, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, a seaside and tourist resort, lives to the rhythm of jazz.- Poupet, Festival "les Pieds dans l'herbe" at Saint Malo du Bois: A range of multicoloured spectacles on an open-air stage in a green setting, elegantly allying the greatest performers from the worlds of song and comedy, contemporary and world music, dance, street arts, etc.
Autrefois Challans the city centre of Challans is completely closed to modern traffic for 4 Thursdays (2 in July and 2 in August), whilst 1,800 volunteers, dressed in period costume, bring back to life the traditions and costumes of our region at the start of the last century.
La Déferlante : in July and August, 7 of the Vendée coastal resorts propose a programme of street arts and live music, with free and low-priced shows. 
Festival de danses et musiques du monde Monde at Cugand: the programme is international and the performers are chosen for their authenticity. Some 12 groups with 500 original artists from 10 countries and 3 continents travel to Cugand every year to share an extraordinary and colourful mixture of culture and tradition with a large audience. These artists, with their songs, dances, music and colourful costumes transport us far beyond our usual horizons.- Les nuits musicales en Vendée Romane. With a rich and varied programme (classical, gospel, opera, world music), the Petites Cités de Caractère de la Vendée light up their ancient stones for these unforgettable evenings in July and August.
- Festival musiques de la Chabotterie at Saint Sulpice le Verdon: in July and August, this festival offers the original possibility of staying behind after each concert to talk with the prestigious artists, stroll around the Logis' furnished rooms (equipped with sound systems).
Les Journées du patrimoine for 2 days in September, almost 300 sites in the Vendée open their doors: castles, churches, bridges, mills, museums, etc.
"Kid's folies": Throughout the month of April, St Jean-de-Monts lives to the rhythm of children's entertainment (under-12s), concert-dances, the children's book and comic strip festival, craft workshops, exhibitions, and cinema.
