Cavaillon Christmas Market

At the gateway to the Luberon, where the Durance leaves the hills for the plain, Cavaillon lines up its chalets on Place du Clos and turns its old centre into a Provençal village for the festive season. Cavaillon Christmas market runs for about ten days, with some thirty wooden huts packed around the bandstand, under garlands that echo the lights along Cours Bournissac. You'll meet local producers and designers, catch the smell of crêpes and mulled wine, and feel that southern fervour that goes with the traditions of the Provençal calendau. Two minutes away, the Roman arch is a reminder that this was once an ancient city, while Saint-Jacques hill closes the horizon with its chapel and its view over Mont Ventoux and the Alpilles.

The Christmas village on Place du Clos

Everything happens on Place du Clos, the plane-shaded square that serves as Cavaillon's beating heart all year round and becomes a Christmas village in mid-December. Around thirty chalets host artisans, designers and small producers, with an opening ceremony at the end of the day that kicks off the festivities. You go from a jewellery stall to a cheese counter in a few steps, past scented candles, hand-turned decorations and gift ideas to slip under the tree. The whole thing stays on the town's scale, busy enough to fill an afternoon without wearing you out, friendly enough to strike up a conversation with the people running the huts. Children aren't forgotten: a mini farm, craft workshops and visits from Father Christmas dot the square, and horse-drawn carriage rides link the market to the illuminated streets of the centre.

The setting counts for a lot. The Roman arch, an early 1st-century monument re-erected in 1880 on Place du Clos, where it still stands, recalls the ancient past of Cabellio, the Gallo-Roman city that controlled the crossing of the Durance. In the evening, the lanes of the old centre light up and the tourist office runs walks through the historic heart to rediscover Provençal customs before tasting the thirteen desserts. Saint-Jacques hill, with its Romanesque chapel and viewpoint, acts as a glowing landmark: this is where the L'Embelido procession comes down, lanterns in hand, before meeting the children and continuing through the town. This association and the Confrérie du melon de Cavaillon keep the Provençal calendau alive throughout December, the cycle of rites, tales and evening gatherings that gives the festive season a truly local flavour, from the gros souper (the Christmas Eve supper) to the animated nativity scene.

Treats at Cavaillon Christmas market

Cavaillon is famous for its melon, but that melon is picked in high summer: at Christmas, it's the other side of Provençal cooking that fills the stalls. The thirteen desserts take top billing, a gros souper tradition that brings together black and white nougat, dried fruit, dates, quince paste, calissons and olive oil fougasse. Around them, producers offer foie gras, oysters, local goat's cheeses, biscuits, fruit jellies, gingerbread and melting chocolates. Candied fruit from nearby Apt brings a sweet, colourful note, a Vaucluse craft several centuries old that has pride of place on a Christmas Eve table. Luberon wines go just as well with a tasting on the spot as with the festive meal, from full-bodied reds to livelier rosés. The sweet stalls fill your bag without having to leave the square. If you want to keep the atmosphere going at home, a good mulled wine recipe with cinnamon and orange does half the work.

• The thirteen Provençal desserts: nougat, calissons, olive oil fougasse, dried fruit and quince paste, the full gros souper tradition.
• Candied fruit from Apt and fruit jellies, a speciality of the neighbouring Vaucluse, glossy and colourful on the stalls.
• Foie gras, oysters and local goat's cheeses, to put together your Christmas Eve meal.
• Provence olive oil and Luberon wines, to taste by the glass before leaving with a bottle.
• Steaming mulled wine and crêpes, the perfect snack for exploring the market at nightfall.

Opening hours, access and entertainment at Cavaillon Christmas market

Entry is free; you only pay for what you eat, drink or take home. In 2025, the market ran for about ten days in mid-December, with longer hours at weekends (until 9pm on Saturdays, 7pm on Sundays) and afternoon opening on weekdays. For winter 2026, the exact dates are still to be confirmed by the town and the Luberon Monts de Vaucluse tourist office, which usually publish the programme in autumn. The festivities spill well beyond the market: a light parade, an animated Provençal nativity scene, workshops and storytelling for children, magic, a mini farm, visits from Father Christmas and carriage rides fill the month, led by the L'Embelido association and the Confrérie du melon de Cavaillon et des traditions provençales.

By train, Cavaillon station is on the Avignon-Marseille line and drops you a short distance from the centre, so the trip is easy without a car from Avignon in around twenty minutes. By car, there are car parks around the town centre, including the Clos car park right next to the chalets, but spaces fill up quickly on December weekends: arrive early or aim for the end of the day, when the lights take over. The old centre is pedestrianised and mostly flat, accessible with a pushchair or wheelchair, although a few cobbled lanes need a little care. Allow one to two hours to go round the market, longer if you carry on with a stroll through the lights.

What to see around the market

Cavaillon has much more to offer than its chalets, and its heritage is concentrated in a few streets of the centre. The synagogue, rebuilt in the 18th century in Baroque style, is one of the oldest still standing in France and houses the Musée Juif Comtadin, an officially designated Musée de France. Its gilded woodwork, ironwork and carved balustrades are found only here and in Carpentras, two unique examples of Comtat synagogue architecture. Cavaillon was one of the “four holy communities” of the Comtat Venaissin, together with Carpentras, Avignon and L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, home to the “Pope's Jews” who found protection in the papal state when they were driven out elsewhere. The museum holds manuscripts, religious objects and memories of this community life. Saint-Véran cathedral, its Romanesque cloister and the grand town houses of the centre tell centuries of history, sheltered from the cold.

For a breath of fresh air, the climb up Saint-Jacques hill is well worth the effort. The path climbs from the centre in about thirty minutes to the chapel, built from the 11th century and consecrated in 1221, tucked under the pines at the cliff edge. From the top, the view takes in Mont Ventoux, the Alpilles, the Luberon and the Durance valley, superb on a clear winter's day. The hill is linked to the legend of Saint Véran, the bishop said to have rid the area of the Coulobre, a dragon from the Durance marshes; every year, the lantern procession of L'Embelido sets off down from this viewpoint. Below, the early 1st-century Roman arch, a relic of ancient Cabellio, is a reminder that the town once controlled a strategic crossing on the route between the Alps and the Mediterranean.

The town also makes a good base for exploring the Vaucluse and the Luberon, marking the entrance to the region before the hilltop villages of Gordes, Ménerbes and Roussillon. Less than an hour away, Avignon Christmas market lights up the city of the popes and its ramparts, while Arles Christmas market adds the magic of the Camargue and its santons. A little further on, Aix-en-Provence Christmas market and its Cours Mirabeau round off a festive weekend in Provence, among santon makers, calissons and lights.