The 12th Suquet des Arts is where exhibitions, concerts, circus, street performances, breakdance, open-air cinema, workshops and visual arts activities come together for a two day party.
On 28 and 29 August, the cobblestones of Le Suquet will echo with something far more melodic than tourist footsteps when Cannes’ oldest neighborhood hosts its 12th annual Suquet des Arts festival, and the medieval quarter’s winding alleys become stages and its historic squares transform into impromptu concert halls and artist studios.
What began in 2014 as Mayor David Lisnard’s vision in to create a meeting ground between residents and artists has evolved into one of the Riviera’s most authentic local arts celebrations. The Suquet des Arts has since grown into a fixture of the cultural calendar. Unlike the glitzy spectacles that typically define Cannes’ La Croisette, this free two-day, family-oriented event strips away the red carpets and velvet ropes, inviting everyone to discover the Suquet’s artistic heart. The city has consistently placed culture at the centre of its policies, ensuring that creativity enriches not only visitors but above all, its residents.
The best-known route from the adjacent city centre ascends from rue du Mont-Chevalier and leads visitors up a good numbers of stairs, past the iconic 12th century Tower of the Man in the Iron Mask and other treasures as they meander through the narrow streets of the historic fisher village.
A second, equally picturesque but less traveled access to the heights of Le Suquet is from the old square at the angle of rue des Suisses, rue Saint-Dizier and rue du Prè. After its recent major upgrades and embellishments, this plaza has regained its village atmosphere, complete with lush trees, shaded bistro patios, an old stone fountain, and small shops, and the adjacent art center Le Suquet des Artistes is a great starting point for the cultural exploration of the Suquet quarter.
Whichever access they choose, visitors are swept into a vibrant, eclectic event which brings together popular and intellectual culture. Studios, galleries, and museums beckon, jazz and contemporary music pulse through the streets, circus performers defy gravity in daring displays… Dive into hands-on visual arts workshops, lose yourself in open-air cinema under the sky, or marvel at live demonstrations of creative mastery. This event opens a window onto the city’s cultural heartbeat, offering a rare chance to meet the visionary creators behind local and Suquet-based artistic ventures and explore their craft up close.
From a two-day programme where one highlight chases the next, here are some of our favourites (check out the full programme online):
(Click images to enlarge)
The Parisian sculptor Corine Borgnet’s exhibition The Last Dance at the Suquet des Artistes art space and the special summer show L’art de faire mouche!, displaying West African tribal hunting tools at the Musée des Explorations du Monde have both been a great success since their opening at the beginning of this summer. Find more details on both exhibitions in our recent museum roundup, the Cannes edition. Located in the remains of the medieval château, the ethnographic museum is well worth a visit in itself. Families can follow a treasure hunt through the galleries, weaving discovery into play and ensuring that the museum belongs to every generation.
During the festival, four local ateliers – those of Olivier Domin (aka “Olll”), Gregory Berben, Richard Ferri-Pisani and Olivia Paroldi – open their doors to the public, underlining the vitality of a neighbourhood that functions not as a museum piece but as a living workshop where you are welcome to exchange with the artists.
The sense of creation spills into the squares. On the hilltop and set against sweeping panoramic views of old town Cannes, the Bay and the Croisette, place de la Castre becomes an outdoor linocut workshop, bringing together children and adults over ink and carving tools. The Association des Beaux-Arts de Cannes stages demonstrations and collective murals, reminding visitors that the Suquet remains a cradle for contemporary expression.
By night, the square turns into a music stage under the stars with a programme spanning genres and generations. Thursday evening opens with “Les Désaccordé·es,” a circus-music fusion where five juggler-musicians blur the boundaries between objects, notes, and bodies in what promises to be a mesmerizing display of contemporary circus arts.
Donizetti’s comic opera “La Fille du régiment“ broadcast on Place de la Castre from the Opéra national de Paris on Thursday, 28 August at 9 pm, is sure to create a unique and memorable experience. Subtitles for hearing-impaired viewers are a thoughtful accessibility touch that reflects the festival’s inclusive spirit.
As a luminous centrepiece among the concerts, Linus Olsson’s quartet Luz do Samba explores Brazilian jazz. Their repertoire of original pieces and reinvented classics blends samba, bossa nova and improvisation, creating music that is at once rooted and fluid. In the intimacy of the Suquet’s squares, their dialogue carries a resonance far removed from the grandeur of the Croisette: a reminder that the city’s cultural vitality extends well beyond the Palais.
Over two days, the Suquet des Arts layers together film projections, breakdance, opera screenings, fanfares and classical recitals. Each element reinforces a common idea: that in Cannes, culture is not seasonal decoration but part of civic identity. For mayor Lisnard, the festival crystallises a broader vision that includes support for local artists, restoration of heritage buildings, and the planned creation of a municipal museum of contemporary African art.
In its twelfth year, the Suquet des Arts demonstrates continuity and renewal in equal measure. This is how Cannes celebrates art when the cameras stop rolling and the real community emerges. It transforms an old quarter into a living stage, while placing residents at the heart of the city’s artistic life. Hollywood-by-the-Med may be known around the world for its red carpets, but it is in the Suquet that its true pulse is most clearly felt – steady, diverse, and firmly anchored in community.
Lead image Place de la Castre, Cannes © Natja Igney; all other images and photographs as credited
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