PARIS FÊTE DES JARDINS 2026

Fête des Jardins is not one fenced festival site with a single programme. It is a network of events across Paris, centred on public parks and squares but extending into shared gardens and some spaces that are not routinely open in the same way. The City describes the weekend as a chance to meet the people working on nature in Paris and to explore how gardening, trees, biodiversity and greener public space are managed.

The broad programme includes gardening advice, planting and compost activities, games, demonstrations, guided visits and practical biodiversity sessions. City gardeners and arborists are part of the event, while neighbourhood associations and shared-garden groups add smaller sessions that vary considerably from one arrondissement to another.

That mix makes the weekend useful for different audiences. Residents can discover projects and gardens close to home; visitors get a low-cost way to see a side of Paris that is easy to miss between museums and monuments. It is also one of those Paris events where the neighbourhood venue can be more rewarding than chasing the headline site.

The main 2026 village is at Parc de Choisy, 128 avenue de Choisy in the 13th arrondissement, running from 14:00 to 19:00 on both days. The City positions it as the broadest overview of Paris’s urban-nature work, bringing together teams and activities from across the municipal green-space network.

The detailed 13th-arrondissement programme includes information and guided visits, biodiversity quizzes, presentations on Paris’s biodiversity plan and green-and-blue ecological corridors, hands-on making workshops, and demonstrations involving the equipment used to maintain public spaces. Among the more unusual listed activities are making nest boxes and personalised aluminium keyrings with braille initials.

Parc de Choisy is also practical for visitors because the City lists Tolbiac on Metro line 7 and Place d’Italie on lines 5, 6 and 7 as nearby stations. The park is due to close on the morning of Friday 25 September while the festival village is being installed, a small but useful warning for locals who use the park before the weekend.

The headline event hours can make the weekend look simpler than it is. The main arrondissement villages commonly run 14:00–19:00, but many satellite gardens operate shorter or completely different sessions. That matters if you are planning around one specific shared garden, workshop or guided visit.

For example, the 5th arrondissement includes the rooftop shared garden Le Nid de l’Ortolan on Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00, with sowing, winter-garden, compost and tasting activities. In the 14th, the former Port-Royal abbey garden is listed from 10:00 to 17:00 on Saturday, while the garden of the former La Rochefoucauld hospital has a different 12:00–21:00 window.

The 17th’s main Square des Épinettes village follows the 14:00–19:00 weekend schedule, while participating shared gardens add their own hours and activities. Similar variations appear across the official arrondissement pages. In practical terms: choose the activity first, then verify its exact day and time rather than assuming the citywide headline hours apply.

The value of Fête des Jardins is in the variety. The 13th-arrondissement listing includes urban-farm and shared-garden sessions, herbarium making, plant swaps and scent-based activities. The 11th has neighbourhood garden events including insect and arachnid photography, garden visits and compost demonstrations. The 7th includes guided visits and biodiversity games at participating gardens around Rue de Babylone and nearby squares.

In the 14th, one programme item features fruit-tree activity with apple pressing and tasting. Elsewhere, local groups use the weekend to explain composting, show how shared plots are managed, run botanical walks or open up gardens that many passers-by normally know only from outside a gate.

You do not need to collect activities across five arrondissements to get value from the event. Pick one main village and one nearby shared garden, or stay entirely local. Paris is deliberately spreading the festival through the city rather than asking everyone to converge on one park.

The City’s current family selection emphasises practical, playful activities: nature games, hands-on workshops, biodiversity discovery and sessions that turn gardening or tree care into something children can actually try. Some sites add craft activities; others focus on insects, compost, plants or the work of professional gardeners and arborists.

Age and supervision rules vary. A number of official listings say children must be accompanied by adults, and some specific activities can have capacity limits or reservation requirements. If one workshop is the reason you are going, use the linked arrondissement programme rather than relying on the general event page.

For travellers with children, the weekend can also work as a pressure-release valve between bigger attractions. A couple of hours in a neighbourhood garden is easier to improvise than another timed museum visit, and the programme is free.

Start with where you already expect to be on 26 or 27 September. If you are around the Latin Quarter, Saint-Germain, Montmartre, the 10th, the 12th or another neighbourhood, there is little reason to cross town unless Parc de Choisy’s larger programme specifically appeals to you. The official main page links directly to each arrondissement’s programme.

Then check three things: the exact garden, the exact day and time, and whether booking is required. The event itself is free, but individual guided activities can have limited places. Accessibility information is also listed on the City event pages and varies by venue.

Finally, treat the published programme as current rather than permanent. Paris can adjust outdoor events for operational or weather reasons. Re-check the official listing on the morning you go, particularly if you have chosen a small satellite garden with a narrow opening window.

This article was checked on 20 September 2026 against the City of Paris’s official Fête des Jardins main programme, which confirms the 26–27 September dates, free citywide programme, hundreds of activities across all arrondissements and the Parc de Choisy grand village from 14:00 to 19:00.

Specific examples and planning details were cross-checked against the official 13th-arrondissement programme, 5th-arrondissement programme, 14th-arrondissement programme, and the City’s family highlights updated 18 September. Parc de Choisy’s official place page was also checked for the Friday 25 September setup closure.