Paris Bread Festival 2025: Fête du Pain Dates, Highlights & What to Expect

If you think bread is just a side dish in France, you haven’t been to the Paris Bread Festival. For 11 buttery, flour-flecked days in May, the air around Notre-Dame turns into a symphony of crust crackles and rising dough. This isn’t your average foodie event—it’s a full-blown homage to the boulangers who keep Paris delicious. And trust us, you’ll want to show up hungry.

What Is the Fête du Pain?

The Fête du Pain isn’t just a food festival—it’s a bold tribute to the boulanger, especially those shaping the breadscape of Greater Paris. Born in the ’90s but rooted in centuries of tradition, this event honours Saint Honoré, the patron saint of bakers, whose miracle (a bread peel turned mulberry tree) made him a culinary legend. His feast day, May 16, became a rallying cry for bakers as early as the 1200s.

The festival is a celebration of true French craftsmanship: crusty baguettes, flour-dusted aprons, and bakers who rise before dawn. It’s not just about bread—it’s about the people who make it, the culture that reveres it, and the living heritage of the French boulangerie.

Want the full flaky backstory on Saint Honoré and how the bakers of Paris turned a miracle into a movement? Read the deep dive from last year’s festival here.

Key Dates and Location for The Paris Bread Festival 2025

• Festival dates: Thursday 1st to Sunday 11th May 2025
• Location: Parvis de Notre-Dame, right in the heart of Paris
• Expect all-day festivities, with plenty of early-morning aromas and late-afternoon tastings. 

What’s Happening at the Paris Bread Festival This Year?

Get ready for the most irresistible pop-up boulangerie France has to offer. For 11 delicious days, the forecourt of Notre-Dame will transform into a temple of crusty devotion celebrating France’s favourite carb: the humble baguette. Now recognised as UNESCO heritage, this queen of carbs gets a full-on lovefest, and you’re invited.

New this year: a working, pedagogical bakery where school kids and curious adults can get their hands doughy and learn every step of the bread-making process—from flour to fire. It’s hands-on, it’s flour-dusted, and it’s designed to spark passion in the next generation of bakers.

Why You Should Go (Even If You’re Not a Baker)

The Paris Bread Festival isn’t just for pros with proofing baskets and sourdough obsessions. It’s for anyone who’s ever torn into a still-warm baguette and paused for a moment—because damn, that crust hits different in Paris.

This isn’t a massive fairground ordeal. You won’t be elbowing your way through a sea of vendors and overpriced food trucks. It’s intimate. Human. You can stand just a few feet from some of the best bakers in the country—watching them shape, fold, laminate, and bake right in front of you. That kind of access is rare, even in France.

You’ll catch master bakers and apprentices working side by side, croissants crackling in real time, and proud finalists receiving their awards for the best bread in Paris. The smells are outrageous. The vibe is humble and celebratory. And the chance to taste the actual winners of the city’s biggest baking prizes? Worth the queue alone.

You don’t need a whole day. Give it 45 minutes and a curious stomach—you’ll walk away with a deeper respect for French food culture, a little flour on your shirt, and maybe a pastry or two for the road.

Tips for Visiting the Paris Bread Festival

Want to do it like a local (but better)? Here’s how to get the most from your visit:

• Get there early. The best loaves go fast, and nothing beats the smell of first bakes hitting the stall.
  • UPDATE – 10 – 11am is probably best unless you are aiming for a specific demonstration (updated after several people asked)
• Chat with the boulangers. Many are happy to explain their process—and might sneak you a taste.
• Bring the kids. The new pedagogical bakery setup is made for curious mini foodies.
• Read the info – you can become a french bread expert by reading the informative signs around the outside of the tent.
• Pack light, but bring a tote. You’ll leave with more carbs than you planned.
• Avoid lunchtime queues. Grab your goodies early and enjoy a picnic nearby instead of jostling mid-day.

Beyond the Festival: Prize-Winning Bakers in Greater Paris

While we’re still waiting to crown 2025’s best baguette, the Grand Paris sandwich contest has already served up some serious talent. Here’s a taste of the winners:

🥪 Best Sandwich – Chef d’Entreprise

🌱 Best Sandwich – Apprentice

🥖 Best Baguette Tradition – Paris

🥇 Best Baguette Tradition – France

🧈 Best Croissant – Grand Paris (Charentes-Poitou AOP)

We’ll continue updating this section as the 2025 prize winners are announced—so check back soon, or better yet, sign up for the review drop.

There is a google maps list that goes with the one above, give it a follow and watch as it gets filled out!

You can also read about my experience judging this years best croissant in Paris competition.

Paris Bread Festival 2025: the Review

🥐 “Ça sent la France”

That’s what the elderly woman next to me whispered as we stepped into the tent at Notre-Dame. And she was right. The air smelled of everything sacred in French baking: caramelised butter, freshly cracked crusts, and warm, laminated layers puffing in the May sun.

I went behind the scenes at the 2025 Paris Bread Festival—not just to nibble, but to judge, to observe, and to soak in the spirit of France’s most sacred food ritual. It wasn’t perfect. The commentary flopped, the croissants were pricey, and the politics snuck in. But what I found under the white tent was far more powerful than I expected.

👉 Read the full review of this year’s paris bread festival →

Join the Feast

To every boulanger who wakes before dawn, who flours their apron with pride, who chases the perfect crackle of crust—thank you.

The Paris Bread Festival is your stage, and it’s an honour just to be part of the crowd. I count myself lucky to celebrate this craft, this culture, and this incredible community of bread-makers.

Don’t miss the full review when it drops—subscribe to the Substack to get it straight in your inbox.

Want to find more things to do in May in Paris? Check out our list of foodie events, ingredients and things to do in Paris for May

Got a favourite Paris bakery? A bread memory that still makes you drool? Comment below or tag us on Instagram—let’s keep the love (and carbs) flowing.

Chef Tris

Food Tour Guide

From the bustling streets of Paris to the heat of a professional kitchen, my life has always revolved around food. A Brit who moved to France at 16, I trained as a chef in a Parisian palace kitchen at 18 and have spent decades cooking, eating, and living like the French.

By day, I run kitchens and events, but Eat Like The French is my side hustle—a way to share my passion for French food through writing and food tours. After a detour into tech recruitment, I returned to what I love most: cooking and storytelling—one dish, one tour, and one bite at a time.

Paris Bread Festival 2025 FAQ