French Guiana - Comité du Tourisme de la Guyane

events,
events & festivals . events & festivals . events & festivals . events & festivals . events & festivals .
& festivals
January/February:
• Carnival: huge event in French Guiana in the streets of
the main coastal towns; dances with feverish rhythms
and Touloulous.
From Epiphany to Ash Wednesday.
Date 2008: 12 th January to 6 th February.
March:
• Fête du Ramboutan: picking and tasting of this fruit
from the litchi family in the orchards of the Hmong village
of Cacao. Date depends on maturity of fruit.
April/May:
• 24 hours of Guianese music in Roura: traditional singing
and dancing from the different communities making
up the local population.
• Book and multimedia trade fair in Cayenne: every
2 nd odd-numbered year, in May.
• Tourist and leisure trade fair in Matoury: mid-April,
Contact the French Guiana Tourist Board.
• Inter-company challenge: (multi-sport raid, river
swimming, Amerindian archery, mountain biking, running
race, etc.). Contact: association Terre de Jeux.
June:
• Drum marathon in Roura: initiation workshops to
learn traditional percussion instruments. Traditional singing
and dancing to percussion instruments. Friendly
competition between international drummers. Contact:
Roura Tourist Office.
• Marsh cross-country race in the Hmong village of
Javouhey. Contact: association Konet Mo pei.
July/August:
• Kamalakuli Mato (the storytellers’ night): international
storytelling festival. Every 2 years in July. Contact: association
Krakemanto.
• Aqua Fun in Roura: water sports festival organised
by the town’s tourist office: initiation or practice of
canoeing/kayaking, water skiing, sea scooter, pirogue
race between towns.
• Roura’l Jazz in Roura: festival to promote jazz and its
variants in the rural areas. In July.
September:
• Heritage days: visit of historical monuments and exhibitions
on the subject of the way of life of local populations.
• Pilgrimage of deported priests from Couna-mama to
Iracoubo: every 2 years. Contact: Iracoubo tourist office.
• Pilgrimage from Saint-Michel to Matoury: day of
prayer punctuated with festivities.
• Cultural events
• Trade fairs and exhibitions
• Sporting events
56
Calendar of events
• From Roura to Matoury: 17 km running race for good
sports people.
• Traditional pirogue race in Kourou: contact: association
Terre de Jeux.
• Open water swimming race: (2.5 km from Mahury)
Contact: regional swimming committee of French Guiana.
October:
• Kayenn Botanik Jazz: jazz festival, meetings with local
artists and artists from elsewhere, musical workshops
during the Cayenne festival on 15 th October.
Contact: town hall of Cayenne.
• Cayenne dance festival: artistic and cultural action to
promote the architectural heritage by lighting up noteworthy
sites in the city. Contact: association Anti podes.
• Book festival: French Guiana libraries celebrate reading
by promoting writers through the organisation of themed
events.
• Green triathlon: multi-sport raid: canoe/mountain
bike/running race for professionals and amateurs.
Contact: association Terre de Jeux.
November/December:
• Fransamazonian festival: tthis festival brings together
the best representatives of “jungle culture” from the
French Guiana plateau. Every 2 years in Saint-Laurent
du Maroni in November. Contact: Centre culturel transamazonien.
• Tour of the Île de Cayenne nautical raid:
with aluminium vessels under 6 metres and a limited
amount of fuel.
Contact: association Terre de Jeux. In November.
• Pirogue race: traditional pirogue race on a marked
sea route, out from Kourou. Contact: association Terre de
Jeux. In November.
• Mountain bike raid: 2-day mountain bike race around
Cacao with a series of trials: country, stopwatch, and
manoeuvrability. In November. Contact: association Terre
de Jeux.
• Walking trail and agriculture and cooking fair in Roura:
a walk from Stoupan to Roura. In November.
• Loy Kratong Festival: Buddhist festival. In November.
• Hmong New Year: traditional festivities of the Guiana
Hmong community in the villages of Cacao and Javouhey.
In December.
Non exhaustive list subject
to change during the year.
Contact details of the
different organisers are
available from the French
Guiana Tourist Board.