In Normandy, the year isn’t divided by months so much as by habits, the agricultural calendar, and food; and even if food is not the reason, it usually always involve food!.
There are the weeks when bells go quiet, the weekends when half the village disappears to a fête you didn’t know existed, the evenings that suddenly stretch long enough for music to drift across fields, and the moments when everyone seems to be eating the same thing at the same time — galette, mussels, crêpes, scallops, apples, or something involving butter and a very strong opinion.
From our countryside gîte near Coutances, in the Manche region of Normandy, this rhythm doesn’t need explaining or preparation. You just naturally fall into step with it.
A quick note on geography, because it matters. When I talk about Normandy here, I’m speaking mainly from lived experience in the Manche, in Lower Normandy — with the occasional, well-loved foray into Calvados. This is the part of the region I know best, where village life still sets the pace and traditions are part of everyday rhythm rather than something put on for show. Other parts of Normandy have their own festivals and flavours too, but what follows is firmly rooted in this corner of it.
❄️ End of Winter in Normandy (January & February)
January in Normandy: Galettes, Quiet Roads, and Resetting the Year 👑
January doesn’t rush in Normandy — it settles.
After the noise of December, villages become quieter, roads emptier, and routines more inward-looking. Then L’Épiphanie arrives and gently takes over the month. Galettes des rois fill bakery windows, each one crowned and quietly judged. Families and friends gather repeatedly “just for a slice”, the youngest hides under the table to assign pieces, and paper crowns are worn with ironic reluctance. The fève decides who rules the day — briefly, and often more than once.
This is a month for long lunches, short walks, and the shared understanding that January is not for big plans.
February in Normandy: Crêpes, Carnival, and Losing All Subtlety 🥞🎭
February begins calmly with La Chandeleur on 2 February.
Kitchens across the Manche fill with the smell of butter and sugar as crêpes are flipped, stacked, and eaten standing up. Butter and sugar remain the purist’s choice. Lemon and sugar sneaks in for a Britannique twist. Nutella is tolerated — enthusiastically — the only time you'll ever see a queue at the local Leclerc is when Nutella is on sale, and yes, the French will actually queue for it 😏.
Then Granville Carnival arrives and calm is abandoned entirely. Floats roll through the town, satire is sharp, costumes are unapologetic, and music is everywhere. This is one of the oldest carnivals in France, proudly UNESCO-listed, and it shows. Locals prepare for weeks, families take part year after year, and nobody pretends it’s just for visitors.
🌱 Spring in Normandy (March – May)
Spring in Normandy is about subtle shifts rather than grand gestures — fields changing colour, cafés edging outdoors, and the calendar quietly filling up again.
March in Normandy: Silence, Bells, and the First Turning of the Year 🌱
March is not dramatic, but it is meaningful.
Fields shift colour, hedgerows thicken, and cafés cautiously test outdoor tables. But the most noticeable change comes during Holy Week. Church bells fall silent from Maundy Thursday through to Easter Sunday — a Catholic tradition symbolising mourning before the Resurrection.
Even people who never attend services notice the absence. The landscape feels oddly muted without that familiar sound marking the hours. When the bells finally return on Easter Sunday morning, ringing freely again, it feels grounding — as though the year has audibly clicked back into place.
Easter itself is marked more by food and family than spectacle: (more) long lunches, lamb on the table, markets busier than usual, and villages gently reawakening.
April in Normandy: Spring Fairs, Vide-Greniers, and Seafood Buckets 🐚
April is when Normandy properly wakes up.
The Foire de Printemps in Gavray is one of the first big agricultural gatherings of the year. Livestock competitions, machinery displays, food stalls, and packed car parks bring together farmers, families, and the simply curious. It’s practical, social, and deeply rooted in rural life.
On the coast, the Foire aux Bulots in Pirou celebrates whelks — cooked, sold by the bucket, eaten standing up, and discussed seriously. It’s a reminder that seafood here isn’t a trend, it’s tradition.
April also marks the return of vide-greniers. From now until early autumn, villages across the Manche host their annual one. Each village generally has just one per year, which makes it oddly important. Bargains are secondary; catching up over saucisse frites is the real reason everyone comes.
May in Normandy: Jazz, Markets, and Life Moving Outdoors 🎷
By May, Normandy finds its rhythm.
Jazz Sous Les Pommiers transforms Coutances into a town-sized concert hall. Performances take place in theatres, churches, courtyards, and cafés, with international musicians sharing space with local audiences. It’s one of France's most respected festivals, but recognised on the worldwide Jazz stage — cultural, welcoming, and firmly part of local life.
Early May also brings the Normandy Festival of AOC in Cambremer, where gourmands gather to celebrate the region’s cheeses, ciders, calvados, and culinary heritage. Tastings, markets, games, and family-friendly chaos make it one of the tastiest weekends of the year.
Elsewhere, the Foire de Printemps de Lessay continues the agricultural calendar, drawing large crowds for livestock competitions, produce stalls, and food that requires napkins and commitment.
☀️ Summer in Normandy (June – August)
If you’re wondering what’s on in Normandy during the summer months, this is when the calendar truly comes alive.
June in Normandy: D-Day, Film, Seafood, and Long Evenings 🕊️🎬
June carries a particular weight in Normandy.
D-Day commemorations take place throughout the region — not just on the beaches, but in village churches, cemeteries, and at local memorials. Flags appear, ceremonies are held, names are read aloud, and families attend quietly. This history isn’t abstract here; it’s personal and present.
Alongside remembrance, everyday village life continues. Temporary bars appear, pétanque tournaments become competitive (and I'm really not kidding here: at the last pétanque competition at the Auberge de Brothelande in our village, we had the French national champion and his (also champion) wife competing against the French national number 2 — I can’t recall who won the prize, but it involved something pork!), and tables fill with grilled sausages and côtes de porc. Apero concerts begin appearing too — food trucks, local bands, plastic cups of wine, evenings that stretch far longer than expected, and hangovers that stay longer than planned.
June also brings cultural highlights beyond the Manche, including the Cabourg Film Festival on the Normandy coast and the Bayeux Medieval Festival, where the town is briefly transported back to the Middle Ages with costumes, markets, and parades.
On the coast, maritime traditions shine through with the Granville Voiles de Travail festival, celebrating working sailing boats, seamanship, and seafood — a very Norman combination.
July in Normandy: Fireworks, Festivals, and Full Volume 🎆🎶
July arrives with confidence.
Bastille Day on 14 July brings fireworks launched from beaches, harbours, and fields with admirable optimism regarding safety distances. Many towns host their own celebrations, meaning there’s rarely just one display.
Music festivals take centre stage. Beauregard has grown into one of France’s largest modern music festivals, while Papillons de Nuit delivers several days of major acts, camping, and inevitable mud. Les Pluies de Juillet, held in Villedieu-les-Poêles, blends music, culture, and ecological thinking in a refreshingly thoughtful way.
Vide-greniers are everywhere now — including Nicorps’ own at the end of the month — part car-boot sale, part village reunion, part excuse for chips.
July also marks the return of a much-loved local tradition: the Labyrinthe de Coutances. Open throughout summer, this giant maize maze draws families, friends, and competitive adults convinced they’ll solve it quickly. They never do.
August in Normandy: Peak Summer, Peak Everything 🍉🚴
August doesn’t apologise.
The Foire Saint-Laurent in Montpinchon brings cyclists and spectators together, while Granville’s Foire aux Melons celebrates summer produce with enthusiasm and sticky fingers.
By August, the Labyrinthe de Coutances is in full swing. Locals return more than once, visitors swear it’ll be a short visit, and someone always insists they definitely took the right turn.. But was the right turn, the right turn?
The Assumption on 15 August is still observed — sometimes with a procession, sometimes simply with closed shops and (more!) very long lunches.
Summer continues with maritime and coastal festivals including the Traversées Tatihou Festival, the Grandes Marées festival around Mont-Saint-Michel, and seafood celebrations such as Toute la mer sur un plateau in Granville as scallop season approaches.
🍎 Autumn in Normandy (September – November)
Autumn in Normandy is about harvests, reflection, and returning indoors without rushing it.
September in Normandy: Harvest Pride and Sainte-Croix 🌾
September steadies the pace.
The Foire Sainte-Croix de Lessay dominates the month. Dating back over a thousand years, it remains one of Normandy’s most important traditional fairs, bringing together livestock, machinery, produce, and vast crowds. It’s busy, serious, and deeply rural.
Apples appear everywhere. Cider presses start working overtime.
October in Normandy: Saint-Luc and Autumn Settling In 🍂
October slows things down.
The Foire Saint-Luc de Gavray celebrates cider, produce, livestock, and autumn food traditions. It’s familiar, reassuring, and marks the point where evenings shorten and fires return.
November in Normandy: Remembrance and Reflection 🕯️
November is taken seriously here.
11 November is widely observed, with ceremonies at village war memorials and in churches. It’s formal, respectful, and quietly moving.
Earlier in the month, La Toussaint fills cemeteries with chrysanthemums as families tend graves. Later, La Foire Saint-Martin at Mont-Saint-Michel marks the transition into winter with faith, history, and atmosphere.
❄️ Winter Begins in Normandy (December)
December in Normandy: Advent, Markets, and Soft Light ✨
December opens winter gently.
Christmas markets appear in towns, offering mulled cider, local crafts, and food designed to warm hands as much as spirits. Churches host concerts and nativity scenes with doors open and candles lit.
The year closes as it began — quietly, generously, and with food.. Always with food
For more local festivals, vide-greniers, and seasonal events across the Manche:
Experiencing Normandy like this — month by month, habit by habit — isn’t something you squeeze into a weekend or skim from the sidelines. It’s something you settle into. From our countryside gîte near Coutances, these festivals and traditions become part of your stay rather than items on an itinerary: a market you happen upon, a fête you didn’t plan, a long lunch that turns into an afternoon. If this slower, more local rhythm is how you like to travel, you’ll feel very much at home here. Take a look at our availability and choose the season that suits you — Normandy will do the rest.
Our base rate includes up to 6 guests, which works well for families, carers travelling together, or multi-generational stays. Additional guests (up to 10) are a small supplement per night.
Your total is calculated automatically when you enter your dates — no hidden extras.