Megève’s Must-See Annual Events: A Year-Round Calendar

7 min read

Megève isn’t only a ski destination — it’s a living village with a genuine year-round events calendar, from its Christmas market to summer cycling races and a jazz festival now nearly forty years old. We checked every event below directly against Megève’s tourist office, the town hall, or the organiser itself, and dropped anything we couldn’t confirm is still actually happening. Exact dates shift slightly from year to year, so treat the months given here as the usual window, and always check the current calendar before booking anything around them.

Winter: Christmas market and night skiing

Winter is when Megève is busiest, and two fixtures anchor the holiday season and the tail end of the ski year.

Christmas Village

The village centre turns into a Christmas village around the church square: wooden chalets, local crafts, creative workshops for children, horse-drawn carriage rides, and an outdoor ice rink. The Messika Christmas tree is lit in a musical ceremony in early December, and the village stays open to visitors into the first days of January. For the 2025-2026 season, the tourist office lists the village as running from December 22 to January 2, with the tree-lighting on December 6. These dates shift every year around the holiday calendar, so confirm the current programme before planning around it.

Edelweiss Megève Ski

Run by the Megève Sports Club, this headlamp-lit night ski touring race has become a fixture of late winter. Four formats are on offer, from a gentle 400m of elevation gain to a serious 1,700m, starting at nightfall from the Côte 2000 area and finishing with a festive gathering at the foot of the Rochebrune cable car. The 2026 edition is set for February 25, in the late afternoon and evening. Formats and exact timings can change year to year, so reconfirm with the Sports Club closer to the date.

Spring: classical music at altitude

Spring, the quieter season between the two winter and summer peaks, has recently gained a cultural fixture of its own.

Classiquicime

This classical music festival, run in partnership with Diapason magazine, brings together more than 200 artists from France and abroad for around ten concerts across three venues in the village — churches, halls, and open-air stages, some up on the alpine pastures. The programme mixes traditional concerts with musical brunches and informal “café-musiques” sessions designed to be accessible, including to families. The second edition ran from March 26-29, 2026. Since the festival is still young, treat the March timing as indicative — the following year’s dates were not yet confirmed at the time of writing.

Summer: jazz, horses, and the village festival

Summer is when Megève’s events calendar is at its busiest — proof, if any were needed, that the resort runs year-round rather than just on snow.

Megève Jazz Contest

Founded in 1987 by Poumy Arnaud, a former drummer for Sidney Bechet, this traditional jazz competition (New Orleans, dixieland, swing) takes over the village’s streets and squares for a weekend: eight orchestras compete on stages scattered across Megève, punctuated by be-bop dance demonstrations and jam sessions, before a closing gala evening. The 2026 edition, the 30th, runs July 10-12 — traditionally the Bastille Day weekend. Most of the street performances are free; only the gala evening is ticketed.

Megève International Jumping

Megève turns into an open-air equestrian arena for this high-level show jumping competition, which brings together more than 500 horses and 350 riders from around twenty countries every year. Beyond the sporting events, there’s family programming and a festive atmosphere running through the week. The 2026 edition, the 15th, runs July 11-19.

Fête du Village

Run by the town council, this traditional festival celebrates local heritage and old crafts: folk groups, demonstrations of traditional trades, cider-making, woodworking and pottery workshops, and activities for all ages right in the village centre. It’s held every year on a weekend in August — the 10th and 11th in some years, the 8th and 9th in others, with the exact weekend shifting slightly. Some workshops require advance booking through the tourist office.

La Haute Route

Billed by the tourist office as one of the most prestigious and demanding cycling events on the calendar, this high-level amateur race sends riders over legendary Alpine passes on closed roads, with full mechanical support and aid stations. The 2026 edition runs August 27-29.

Autumn: mountain cuisine

Autumn is Megève’s quietest season, and it closes out with an event that’s become a genuine reference point for mountain cooking.

Toquicimes

This free, open-to-all event celebrates mountain cuisine: a producers’ market, food trucks, special menus in the village’s restaurants, competitions (fondue, pâté croûte, Mont Blanc dessert), masterclasses, and children’s workshops, ending with a traditional “mâchon savoyard” feast. It brings together starred chefs, local artisans and producers around a different theme each year. The 9th edition runs October 16-18, 2026.

If you’re spending a full season in Megève rather than a single week’s holiday, this calendar is where it really pays off — you have time to plan around the village’s genuine highlights rather than finding out about them afterwards on social media. It’s also a good excuse to get off the slopes and explore the best activities in Megève year-round, or to time a seasonal rental in Megève around these dates.

Also worth doing: Megève’s Luge 4 Saisons, open in summer and winter.