Description:

Events,  festivals, exhibitions and days out  in Pays de la Loire region of France

Guide2 PaysdelaLoire round-up of events in the Loire region and ideas for things to do this week-end

This weekend:

The big event this weekend is the Nantes Carnival - Carnaval de Nantes - with breathtaking floats and larger than life characters taking to the streets of Nantes. The Nantes Carnival starts on Sunday 1st April.

At Guerande in Loire-atlantique, an exhibition of local pottery opens at the Tourist Office and runs right through the summer - Les collections de faïences du pays de Guérande.

It's the season for vineyards all over Pays de la Loire opening their doors. Domaine des Bleuces in the Valley of the Layon in Anjou has a series of four open days from today Friday 30th until Monday 2nd April.

Domaine des Giraudieres at Vauchretien in Anjou has vineyard open days and tastings on 31st March and 1st April.

La Cave des Vignerons de Saumur has open days showcasing the wines of Saumur on 31st March and 1st April.

In Nantes, there's the regular monthly market of Wines and Local Produce at boulevard Gustave Roch.

If you fancy something stronger, Printemps des Liqueurs on Saturday sees open days at Loire Region's three 'big brand' distilleries, Giffard, Remy Cointreau and Combier.

Les Photographiques - in Sarthe the Le Mans Photographic Festival runs till Sunday 1st April

Caves Ackerman's new exhibition at Saumur, Secrets of the Archives, continues. Secrets d'Archives traces the history of the vineyard with a number of previously unseen exhibits from local archives. The exhibition runs till 30th April.

At Nantes in Loire-atlantique, there's a major exhibition offering a historical perspective of the women of Nantes at work through the ages - Nantaises au travail which runs till 13th May.

Also in Nantes, at the Jules Verne museum, there's an exhibition 'A Table!' on the theme of Jules Verne's culinary experiences on his worldwide and diverse voyages.

If you need to stock up on wine, there's a few days left at some of the Spring Wine Fairs at supermarkets.

At the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Angers, there's an exhibition of the paintings and engravings of Jacques Villon which runs till Sunday 1st April.

In Angers the Angers Carnival is underway with a number of events in the lead up to the Grande Finale, the parade of floats, on the final day 1st April.

Back to Nantes and at Le P'tit Bouillon restaurant in the city centre the interesting exhibition of the individual photography of Nicolas Clarens continues following his trip to the southern hemisphere.

The new Monument to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes was officially inaugurated on 25th March and iis now open to the public.

Springtime in France wouldn't be complete without the blossoming of Vide-Greniers galore. You can check for local Vide-Greniers using the links on our general events listing Vide-Greniers & Brocantes.

On top of that, Parks and Gardens all over Pays de la Loire are coming into their springtime best whilst in Anjou, coming soon, Terra Botanica, the theme park of the horticultural world, open for the season on 7th April.

Finally, please don't forget that on Saturday at 20h30 it's Earth Hour in France supported by the Wordwide Fund for Nature - switch off, kick back, and, as it says in the song 'Keep the creatures safe from harm'.

Have a great weekend!

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