FIG 2026 — Saint-Dié-des-Vosges: Europe's Greatest Geography Festival and How to Experience It Fully

Saint-Dié-des-Vosges: the city that named America

There is a little-known fact that gives Saint-Dié-des-Vosges a singular place in human history: it was here, in 1507, that the word "America" first appeared on a map. The Vosgien Gymnasium — a circle of humanist scholars gathered around canon Vautrin Lud — produced that year a revolutionary world map, baptising the new continent with the Latinised name of Amerigo Vespucci. This small Vosgien provincial town thus carried, long before it was known for anything else, the mark of a cartographic gesture that changed the world's representation of itself.

It is on this exceptional foundation of identity that the International Festival of Geography rests — founded in 1990 by Christian Pierret. Over thirty-five years, the FIG has become one of the most important intellectual, cultural and gastronomic events in Grand-Est, and one of the rare festivals in the world to make geography a popular celebration open to all.

The FIG by the numbers: a festival unlike any other

Every year, for three days at the first weekend of October, Saint-Dié-des-Vosges transforms itself entirely:

• Over 40,000 festival-goers welcomed each edition, from across France and abroad
• Over 300 speakers — geographers, writers, philosophers, artists, cartoonists, journalists — occupying the town's spaces
• Over 200 encounters in all forms: panel debates, round tables, geography cafés, screenings, exhibitions, live performances
• Entirely free admission for the whole programme — an absolute singularity for a festival of this international standing
• 35 editions since 1990, a continuity that speaks to the festival's deep roots in French intellectual life

FIG 2026: Landscape, Bulgaria and Romania

The 37th edition of the FIG takes place on 2, 3 and 4 October 2026 in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, around a particularly rich double programme.

The theme: "Landscape"

The word "landscape" is deceptively familiar. The moment it is pronounced, each person can immediately project themselves far away in space and time — or, conversely, into the space immediately around them. This ambivalence — between the intimate and the collective, between the idealised postcard and a living, political space — is precisely what FIG 2026 intends to explore. Behind any landscape's apparent role as scenery lies a set of choices, tensions, environmental and social crises. In the context of the Anthropocene, the geography of landscape compels us to rethink our relationship with territory, vulnerability and the shared future.

Countries of honour: Bulgaria and Romania

The choice of Bulgaria and Romania for 2026 is not incidental. In October 2026, we stand on the eve of the twentieth anniversary of their accession to the European Union — the largest enlargement in EU history. Both countries, having entered the Schengen area together on 1 January 2025, share a geopolitical interface position on the Black Sea and a common border along the Danube, with its major environmental stakes. Twenty years of European integration seen from these two territories: a geopolitical prism of rare richness.

A programme in four dimensions

The scientific dimension

At the festival's heart, researchers and geographers from across the world debate within a unique framework: that of a passionate and heterogeneous public, which compels scientists to communicate clearly on pointed subjects. The Vautrin-Lud Prize — often described as the "Nobel Prize of Geography" — is awarded each year at the FIG to a geographer honoured for their life's work, on the basis of a consultation of over one hundred researchers worldwide, by a five-member specialist jury modelled on the 1507 Vosgien Gymnasium.

The literary dimension

The Book Fair is a centrepiece of the festival. Hundreds of titles linked to geography, travel, cartography and the human sciences are presented. Several literary prizes are awarded, including the Amerigo Vespucci Prize (adult geographical work), the Amerigo Vespucci Youth Prize, the Geographic Comics Prize and the Geography Book Prize for Secondary and Post-Secondary Students. These prizes make the FIG one of the most complete geographical literary events in France.

The cultural dimension

Photographic and cartographic exhibitions, thematic film screenings, live performances: the FIG is also a festival of the arts that tell the world's story. Each edition weaves connections between geography and contemporary creation, between science and sensibility, between objective data and subjective perspectives.

The gastronomic dimension

The FIG has the unique characteristic of placing gastronomy on an equal footing with intellectual life. The Place de la Gastronomie, the Allée des Saveurs and the Éco-Resto allow visitors to discover the cuisines of the invited countries and the terroirs of France in a spirit of total curiosity. Vosgien gastronomy itself — quiche, meat tart, Munster cheese, mirabelle plum — is presented in its finest expressions.

How to experience the FIG in the best possible conditions

Saint-Dié-des-Vosges is a city of 20,000 inhabitants that finds itself, over one weekend, welcoming twice its population. The organisation is well-oiled and the welcome genuinely warm — but logistical planning is essential for visitors who wish to experience the festival fully.

Accommodation

Hotels in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges and its immediate surroundings fill up several weeks before the festival weekend. Alternatives within a 30 to 40km radius are plentiful: Gérardmer (30 min), Épinal (40 min), Sélestat (40 min on the Alsatian side). For a premium experience — a Vosges chalet, a characterful guesthouse, a prestige apartment in Strasbourg with shuttle transfer — Adopte une Conciergerie can source and book the ideal lodging well in advance.

Getting there

Saint-Dié-des-Vosges is accessible from Strasbourg in 1h15 by road (D392 via Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines) or 1h30 by train (TER with connection). From Paris, allow 3h30 by car or 3h by train via Nancy or Strasbourg. A dedicated Train for Secondary School Students is organised each year by the festival from several major cities in Grand-Est.

Programme and free admission

The entire FIG programme is free and open to all — conferences, debates, exhibitions, performances. The detailed programme is published on the festival's official website and updated regularly in the weeks before the event.

The FIG and the Vosgien territory: an invitation to extend the experience

For many of its visitors, the FIG is a unique opportunity to (re)discover the Vosges. The Vosgien massif offers, within a few kilometres of Saint-Dié, a range of landscapes — fir forests, upland meadows, Alsatian villages on the eastern slope, glacial lakes — that echo the very theme of the 2026 festival. Extending the visit by one or two nights in the region is an obvious choice.

For visitors wishing to combine the FIG with a prestige stay in the Vosges or Alsace — premium accommodation, gastronomic dining, confidential cultural experiences — Adopte une Conciergerie organises the complete bespoke programme.

FAQ — International Festival of Geography 2026

FIG 2026 is approaching. To experience these three days in the best possible conditions — prestige accommodation, premium transport, a personalised programme across the Vosges and Alsace — entrust the organisation to Adopte une Conciergerie.