Étaples-sur-Mer
The Étaples scallop festival 2027
27 and 28 March 20279th edition
Two days of harbour festivities to mark the end of the scallop season
- Free entry
- In spring
- 2 days
- Pecten maximus
9th edition
from 27 to 28 March 2027
Saturday 10am to 10pm, Sunday 10am to 8.30pm, at the Canche bay site. It's reached from the harbour via a 650-metre pontoon, around ten minutes on foot.
Next edition
Dates not yet announced
The event takes place in spring, every year.
- Where
- Canche bay, Étaples-sur-Mer harbour
- Price
- Free entry. Meals and tastings paid on site.
- Crowds
- Over 20,000 visitors
Étaples is the leading fishing port in Pas-de-Calais, and the scallop is serious business here. The festival marks the end of the fishing season: it began, originally, as a party for fishermen putting away their gear.
Over the years it has become one of the Opal Coast's great food events, with a craft village, cookery demonstrations from local chefs and concerts down on the harbour.
What's on
- Scallop tastings, prepared on site
- Gourmet meals and stalls run by regional chefs
- Scallop-opening competition
- Craft village and maritime trades
- Water rescue dog demonstrations
- Navy helicopter winching display
- Sailing taster sessions in the Maison des Miniatures basin
- Concerts with rock, folk and Celtic influences
The Étaples scallop: what to know
What's called a scallop here is Pecten maximus: the real thing, from the Channel, not to be confused with the imported queen scallops sometimes sold under the same name.
The fishing season is regulated: it opens in autumn and closes in spring, which explains the festival's date. Out of season, fresh local scallop simply doesn't exist, whatever the label says.
Getting there
Étaples-sur-Mer is five minutes from Le Touquet-Paris-Plage and half an hour south of Boulogne-sur-Mer via the A16. Étaples–Le Touquet station is on the Paris-Nord — Boulogne line, a few minutes' walk from the harbour.
The festival site is on the Canche bay, on the other side of the harbour: allow for the 650-metre pontoon on top of the rest of the journey.
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
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 summer, every yearAudresselles crab festivalHalf a century of crab, flobarts and concerts on the village square
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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