Nights of the Forests 2026 in Fontainebleau: the free program blending performances, workshops and walks

Nuits des Forêts brings Fontainebleau forest and Barbizon in Seine-et-Marne to life from June 5 to 22, 2026: nocturnal walks, performances, talks, workshops and exhibitions, all free or nearly so. Don’t forget to book what you like—we’ll share the full program with you.

Do you really know the forests that surround you? We may wander the paths and hum through these spaces, but we’re far from knowing even a tenth. From June 5 to 22, 2026, the Seine-et-Marne massif (77) becomes a festival ground for the Nuits des Forêts, with a packed program, mostly free, that blends science, art and nature just a stone’s throw from Paris. Night walks, illustrated lectures, participatory projects, acrobatic performances, exhibitions and family workshops: there’s enough to bring you back to the massif several times this month.

This seventh edition of the festival, present in more than 250 forests across France, is built around the theme “Listening to the Living.” In Fontainebleau, the program is led by the National Office of Forests, the Fontainebleau and Gâtinais Biosphere Reserve, Paris Cité University, and COAL, the leading association for art and ecology, as part of the label Fontainebleau, Forest of Exception®. The context is not incidental: 50% of the massif’s trees today show signs of decline. The stakes of this programming are therefore far from mere festive pretexts.

The centerpiece of June 13: a full day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Saturday June 13 is the heart of the program, with a full day spread across two sites: the Forest Ecology Station of Université Paris Cité (Route de la Tour Dénecourt, Fontainebleau) by day, founded in 1889 by botanist Gaston Bonnier, and then the Mont Ussy parking lot in the evening.

Illustrated Talks (Forest Ecology Station)

This edition’s hallmark is that all scientific talks are illustrated live by Alice Chemama, a writer and animation filmmaker. It’s easier to follow, and you leave with vivid images in your mind rather than a pile of data.

10h - 10h45 : Prehistoric art in the Fontainebleau sandstone, with Boris Valentin (Université Paris Sorbonne) and the GERSAR. Engravings across more than 2,500 caverns between Nemours and Rambouillet: how much is truly prehistoric, and how can we protect them?
11h - 11h45 : The rich birdlife of the forest massif, with Jean-François Baron (ONF) and Louis Albesa (LPO Île-de-France). Nearly 80 breeding bird species inhabit this single massif.
14h - 14h45 : Climate change and its impact on the forest, with Claire Nowak (ONF). Dieback, shifts in tree species: what will this massif look like in 30 years?
15h - 15h45 : Sports and recreation in the forest: challenges and coexistence, with the CODERANDO, the Mountain Bike Foundation and the ONF. With 15 million visits per year, this is far from a trivial issue.

Construction sites, walks and forest visits

10h - 12h : Community-led project to curb invasive exotic species (ONF)
10h - 12h : Guided walk on the Fontaines trail, with the Friends of the Fontainebleau Forest
10h - 12h : Visit to the Saint-Louis Hermitage, with archaeological research on medieval hermits and pilgrims (Meet directly on the Saint-Louis hill)
10h - 12h : Tour of the Forest Ecology Station (Université Paris Cité)
14h - 15h : Q&A with firefighters from the SDIS 77, featuring a display of specialized vehicles, Mont Ussy car park
14h - 16h : Participatory erosion-control worksite (ONF)
14h30 - 17h : Workshop Sylva Fresque: understanding French forest management in 2.5 hours, in a collaborative and playful format (Forest Ecology Station)
16h30 : Wildlife-themed stroll with Collectif XY

Evening at Mont Ussy: a show, a reading, and bats

16h - 20h : An electronic siesta in the forest’s soundscape, led by SILVAREA
19h : Meet-and-read with Simonetta Greggio, author of The Breath of the Forest (Arthaud, 2026) — a novel paying homage to Simona Kossak, the Polish biologist and ethologist who spent thirty years in the Białowieża Forest, living in a cabin surrounded by a boar and a lynx.
20h : Performance by Collectif XY, a company supported by the Ministry of Culture since 2016, bringing nine acrobats up among the treetops for a choreography suspended between sky and forest
21h : Nighttime bat walk with Alexandre Butin (ONF) at Mont Ussy. Pipistrelles, Brown Long-Eared Bats, and Greater Mouse-Eared Bats — learn to recognize their ultrasound in the Bellifontaine night. This outing returns every year and never fails to enchant, even the most skeptical attendees.

A Month in the Forest: Events from June 5 to 22

Beyond June 13, the festival will host events throughout the month across the entire mountain range.

In the Fontainebleau Forest:

June 5: Night sounds, a nocturnal soundscape immersion
June 6–22: A sensory immersion at the heart of the massif (self-guided route)
June 17: Birds take the floor
June 19: A historical and sensory stroll
June 20: Recreating the landscape

In Barbizon: art, drawing, and the history of the forest painters

The village of Barbizon, perched at the edge of the forested hills, fully joins the Nuits des Forêts. And for good reason: it’s where in the 19th century Théodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet, and their peers laid their easels to paint the woods en plein air, unknowingly shaping a new relationship with nature. The Departmental Museum of Barbizon Painters and the Theodore Rousseau Workshop-Museum are staging a special program around the exhibition « Treasures of Paper», devoted to rare and little-known 19th‑century works from the departmental collections, to be admired from April 18 to July 19, 2026. Nearly 80 drawings, engravings and archives—usually kept out of sight because of light sensitivity—are being brought out of storage for this exceptional showcase.

5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 June: Exhibition “Treasures of Paper” (Barbizon Painters Museum, 92 Grande Rue)
6 to 22 June: Discover Barbizon! Self-guided tour of the village, its inns, artists’ studios and 19th‑century houses
7 June: Family workshop “Forest Travel Sketchbook”
11 June: Lecture “Drawing to Engrave and Engraving to Draw in the 19th Century”
13 June: Guided tours of the exhibition and a hike “Over Hills and Through Woods”
14 June: Two-voice guided tour of the exhibition, to discover the works through the artists’ histories and studio gestures (Theodore Rousseau Museum-Workshop, 55 Grande Rue)
18 June: Lecture “Images of the Floating World at the End of the 19th Century: A Piece of Japan in the Artists’ Workshops”
19 June: Evening drawing class in front of the works
20 June: Forest walk-and-talk on landscape evolution and guided museum tours
6 and 20 June: Guided tours of the museum

What to know about the Forest Nights in Fontainebleau

Booking is recommended for most activities, via the official Nuits des Forêts site and the ONF’s dedicated page. For museum events, reservations are made directly with the Barbizon Painters Museum (01 60 66 22 27). On June 13, daytime gathering is at the Forest Ecology Station, Route de la Tour Dénecourt, 77300 Fontainebleau, and in the evening at the Mont Ussy parking lot, Rue du Mont Ussy, 77300 Fontainebleau. Fontainebleau-Avon railway station is accessible from Paris-Gare de Lyon (Transilien line R), making a car-free visit easy.

This program targets families with children as well as nature- and culture-minded visitors, whether seasoned hikers in the Fontainebleau forest or first-time explorers of the massif. With three weeks of events across as many formats, it’s a great chance to spend several weekends in Seine-et-Marne this June.