Audresselles
The Audresselles crab festival
Half a century of crab, flobarts and concerts on the village square
- Free entry
- Early summer
- Since 1976
- Seafood
Next edition
Dates not yet announced
The event takes place early summer, every year.
- Where
- Audresselles square and seafront
- Price
- Free entry. Tastings paid.
- Crowds
- Around fifty stalls, six bands
Audresselles is a village barely two hundred metres long, right against the sea, with no harbour and no seawall. Once a year, its square fills with stalls of crab, lobster and smoked seafood, and six bands take it in turns on stage until evening.
The festival has passed its fiftieth edition. For the anniversary, everyone was invited to come in a Breton top — which says a fair bit about the tone of the place.
What's on
- Around fifty stalls: crab, lobster, shellfish, smoked seafood
- Tastings and meals on site
- Flobarts and maritime heritage
- Exhibitions and local crafts
- Six bands: rock, blues, Irish music, variety
The Boulonnais crab
What's called crab here is the brown crab, caught in pots on the rocky seabed between the two capes. The Côte de Fer at Audresselles — the reef that separates the village's two beaches — is exactly the kind of seabed it lives on.
It's eaten cold, with mayonnaise, and picking it takes a good while: it's a dish that keeps a whole table busy for an hour. That's part of why it gets a festival of its own.
Getting there
Audresselles is on the coast road between Cap Gris-Nez and Ambleteuse, twenty minutes from Boulogne-sur-Mer. There's no station: it's the car, or the bike from Wimereux.
The village is tiny and parking is tight. On the day of the festival, plan to leave the car at the edge and walk the rest of the way.
Plan your day
Our 3 places to stay
Where to stay in Audresselles for the event?
Our favourite
To wake up facing the Channel
La villa face Mer
On the Audresselles seafront, a few steps from the supervised beach.
Rental · Audresselles
For a night worth talking about
Bunker Le ch'ti blockhaus
An unusual stay, in a village that still bears plenty of traces of the Atlantic Wall.
Unusual stay · Audresselles
Our 3 restaurants
Where to eat in Audresselles?
Our favourite
To eat facing the sea
Le Loup de Mer
On place du Détroit, where the village meets the seafront.
1 place du Détroit, Audresselles
To stay in the harbour atmosphere
Le Retour des Flobards
Rue Marin la Meslée, close to where the flobarts are hauled up on the sand.
58 rue Marin la Meslée, Audresselles
For a stop between the two capes
De Cap en Cap
On the same street, in the heart of the village, halfway between the Gris-Nez and the Blanc-Nez.
68 rue Marin la Meslée, Audresselles
On the Opal Coast
Other major events
Late January, every yearEnduropale du TouquetThe biggest beach motorbike race, over ten kilometres of sand
Every year in AprilBerck-sur-Mer kite festivalNine days of aerial ballet over ten kilometres of beach, and it's free
From January to April, every yearDunkirk carnivalThree months of bandes and balls, and the only crowd where everyone links arms
In spring, every yearÉtaples scallop festivalTwo days of harbour festivities to mark the end of the scallop season
Mid-November, every yearÉtaples Herring King festivalThree tonnes of smoked herring in one weekend, right on the quayside
Late August, every yearWissant flobart festivalThe flat-bottomed boat born of a coast with no harbour, celebrated every late summer
Early July, every yearFestival de la Côte d’OpaleFour nights of French-language music facing the harbour, since 1976
The second weekend of September, every yearTrail de la Côte d’OpaleSeven distances, from ten to a hundred and ten kilometres, over cliffs and dunes
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