Manosque Christmas Market

Manosque celebrates the end of the year in the town Jean Giono described so often, between the hills of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and the Valensole plateau. Every December, around twenty wooden chalets huddle together on Promenade Aubert Millot, a few minutes from the two medieval gates, Porte Saunerie and Porte Soubeyran with its wrought-iron bell cage. Manosque Christmas market is very much an old-town affair, where Provençal crafts, local treats and Father Christmas's house on Place de l'Hôtel de Ville set the rhythm of the Advent weekends. You come here with a mulled wine in hand, in the high-Provence winter light that the author of “Colline” and “The Horseman on the Roof” loved above all else.

The chalets on Promenade Aubert Millot

The Christmas village sets up on Promenade Aubert Millot, the plane-tree-lined avenue that skirts the old town. Around twenty wooden chalets offer crafts, festive decorations and gift ideas, alongside food stalls that fill the air with the scent of mulled wine and sweet specialities. The 2025 edition ran from 12 to 24 December, open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from midday until late afternoon, with an opening evening on 13 December. It is a compact format, set over the last fortnight of Advent, which concentrates the fun on the weekends and the final days before Christmas. For winter 2026, the dates have yet to be confirmed by the town and the Durance-Luberon-Verdon tourist office, which usually publish the programme in the autumn.

All around, old Manosque provides the backdrop. You pass through Porte Saunerie, a gate tower from the late 14th century guarding the southern entrance to the old town, with its two machicolations and side towers, then climb the narrow lanes to Porte Soubeyran and its bell cage in wrought iron, the most imposing of the surviving gates. Fountains, ochre façades and little squares give the market the scale of a Provençal market town, where the chalets are only a few steps from the shops in the centre. The concentric layout of old Manosque, inherited from the Middle Ages, lends itself to wandering between the lights: the streets radiate from the old gates towards the shopping heart, dotted with small squares and craft shops. The Centre Jean Giono, devoted to the writer born in the town, is two minutes from the stalls if you want a break from gift hunting, and the Church of Saint-Sauveur, with its own bell cage, neatly closes off the view down one of the lanes.

Food and treats at Manosque Christmas market

Provençal food takes pride of place on the stalls. The thirteen Christmas desserts set the tone, with black and white nougat, dried fruit, dates, quince paste and olive-oil fougasse, true to the tradition of the gros souper, the Christmas Eve feast still laid out here. Around them you will find lavender honey from the Valensole plateau, almonds, candied fruit and local olive oil, produce that the hills and the Durance have always provided. Manosque owes its nickname, the “town of a thousand fountains”, to the abundant water that made its mills and orchards prosper, and the local almond trees carry on that farming heritage. Luberon winegrowers offer their wines, to take home for festive meals or to taste by the glass as you stroll under the lights, while mulled wine steams at the neighbouring stalls. On the savoury side, tapenade, anchoïade and olive-oil aperitif biscuits complete the selection, enough to stock a whole festive table without leaving the promenade. To keep the mood going at home, a good mulled wine recipe with cinnamon and orange already does half the work.

• The thirteen Provençal desserts: nougat, dried fruit, dates, quince paste and olive-oil fougasse, the full gros souper tradition.
• Lavender honey from the Valensole plateau, mild and fragrant, to take home in a jar for festive tables.
• Candied fruit and almonds, two treats that Haute-Provence has been making for a very long time.
• Local olive oil and tapenade, to taste at the stall before leaving with a bottle.
• Luberon wines and spiced mulled wine, served steaming hot for the evening stroll.

Ice rink, little train and family entertainment

Manosque looks after children all month long. Father Christmas's house stands on Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, with Father Christmas himself there from Monday to Friday in the late afternoon, and Mother Christmas telling stories at weekends in December from mid-afternoon. A 100 m² synthetic ice rink is set up on the esplanade of the CGR cinema, open for three euros per half-hour, a good stop once the little ones have had their fill of chalets. The Christmas train leaves from Place du Terreau roughly every forty-five minutes for a different look at the town centre, popular with families who want a breather between two rounds of the market. Through December 2025, the town filled its Saturdays with a parade and fire show, a dance show followed by fireworks and a gospel concert, before a water and pyrotechnics show called “L’Arbre qui pleure” (The Weeping Tree) on Tuesday 23 December in Parc de Drouille. Live music also came to the market on several days of the fortnight to set the tone for the village. The 2026 programme will be announced by the town and the tourist office, usually during November.

As for getting there, Manosque has its own station, Manosque-Gréoux, on the Marseille-Briançon line, about twenty minutes' walk from the old town or linked by shuttle. By car, the town is reached via the A51 (Manosque exit), with car parks around the historic centre and along the ring boulevards. These spaces fill up fast on December weekends, so aim for early morning or the end of the day, when the lights take over. Entry to the market is free, you only pay for what you eat, drink or take home, and you should allow one to two hours to go round the chalets, more with the ice rink and a food break.

Giono, L'Occitane and the hills: what to see nearby

Manosque easily fills a whole day. The town is the birthplace of the L'Occitane en Provence brand, whose factory and museum-shop can be visited on the outskirts, with a Mediterranean garden and the workshops where the cosmetics born here are made. The guided tour takes in the production lines, the laboratory and the packaging workshop, a pleasant contrast with the slow pace of the old town. The Centre Jean Giono, in old Manosque, looks back on the writer's life and work, while his house, Le Paraïs, keeps his library of several thousand books, his manuscripts and his study. Fans will recognise the landscapes of “Colline”, “Regain” and “The Horseman on the Roof”, all rooted in this part of Haute-Provence. The hills around the town, the very ones that run through his novels, make for lovely winter walks when the low light skims the olive trees; Mont d'Or and its tower, above the rooftops, is a short climb from the centre for a panorama over the Durance.

Manosque's location makes it a handy base for exploring Provence. Cavaillon Christmas market and Aix-en-Provence Christmas market are both less than an hour's drive away, and Avignon Christmas market rounds off a festive weekend in the neighbouring Vaucluse, with chalets, crafts and Provençal treats. The Valensole plateau and the Luberon, close by, extend the trip if you want some fresh country air between two festive stops.