The European summer is the part of the year the phrase "the season" still refers to without qualification. Between the opening of Cannes in the second week of May and the final of the Open Championship in mid-July, the calendar runs almost without a gap through the Riviera, the Sarthe, London, Basel, Paris and the English countryside. Cannes, the Monaco Grand Prix, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Royal Ascot, Art Basel, Wimbledon, Henley and the Goodwood Festival of Speed follow one another at intervals of a week or less, and the couture shows in Paris, Trooping the Colour, Glyndebourne, the Palio in Siena and the British Grand Prix fill the gaps between them.
What makes the period distinctive is that the events are old, fixed and public. Ascot has run in the third week of June since long before there was an international calendar to fit it into; Wimbledon's fortnight and Henley's week are set by tradition rather than by broadcasters; Le Mans has been a mid-June race for a century. The result is a season whose dates the reader can plan around years ahead, which is not true of much else on this site.
01Les destinations
02Comment il évolue
The season begins on the Riviera and ends in the English countryside, with a detour to Basel. Cannes occupies the second half of May; the Monaco Grand Prix follows within a fortnight, and since 2026 falls in the first week of June, so the yachts that were moored off the Croisette move along the coast for race week. Epsom's Derby is the first Saturday of June, the Prix de Diane at Chantilly a week later, and Le Mans in the middle of the month. Trooping the Colour is a June Saturday in London; Royal Ascot begins on the Tuesday of the third week; Art Basel opens in the same week, which is the season's most consequential overlap and the reason the London and Basel crowds are different people that week.
From Ascot the season is largely English. The Cartier Queen's Cup final at Guards is a mid-June Sunday, Queen's Club tennis runs the week before Wimbledon, Wimbledon takes two weeks from the end of June, and Henley's five days end on the first Sunday of July. Glyndebourne is open throughout, from late May to late August. Paris interrupts with the couture shows in the first week of July, and the Palio runs on July 2 whatever else is happening. Goodwood's Festival of Speed is a July weekend, the British Grand Prix another, and the Open Championship in mid-July is the last event most people count as part of this season. The Cowdray Gold Cup final and the Qatar Goodwood Festival carry it into August for those who stay.
The rhythm is weekly. Each major event has a Saturday or a Sunday at its center, and the useful planning question is which weekend, not which month.
03Les événements
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11MayCannesCannes Film Festival
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3JunMonte CarloMonaco Grand Prix
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9JunLe Mans24 Hours of Le Mans
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15JunAscotRoyal Ascot
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17JunBaselArt Basel
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28Jun
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29JunHenley-on-ThamesHenley Royal Regatta
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8JulGoodwoodGoodwood Festival of Speed
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23MayParisRoland-Garros
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4JunEpsomThe Derby
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18MayWindsor Great ParkCartier Queen's Cup
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7JunLondonHSBC Championships
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20May
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12JunLondonTrooping the Colour
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25Jan
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15JulrotatingThe Open Championship
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2JulSilverstoneBritish Grand Prix
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21Jun
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11JunSaint-TropezRolex Giraglia
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1JunBaselDesign Miami.Basel
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15Jun
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13JunChantillyPrix de Diane Longines
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8JunLondonLondon Concours
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22MayBrescia1000 Miglia
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20MayCap d'AntibesamfAR Gala Cannes
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22Jun
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27JulGoodwoodQatar Goodwood Festival
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17JulFarnboroughFarnborough International Airshow
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22Jun
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10JulrotatingAmerica's Cup
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15JulVerbierVerbier Festival
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17JulVeniceFesta del Redentore
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14MaySalzburgSalzburg Festival
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3JulRavelloRavello Festival
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7Jun
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9JunCopenhagen3daysofdesign
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1JulMonte CarloLongines Global Champions Tour of Monaco
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20NovLucerneLucerne Festival
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14JunLe BourgetParis Air Show
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12JanFlorencePitti Immagine Uomo
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15Jan
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8JulNorth BerwickGenesis Scottish Open
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19Jan
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24JulBayreuthBayreuth Festival
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31JulCowes to CherbourgRolex Fastnet Race
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2JulSienaPalio di Siena
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2JulSaratoga SpringsSaratoga Summer Meet
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18Jun
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25MayPorto CervoLoro Piana Superyacht Regatta
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19Aug
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24AugSt. MoritzSt. Moritz Gourmet Festival
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1MayGenevaEBACE
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6Aug
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24JunLondonTreasure House Fair
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23JunPalmaSuperyacht Cup Palma
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15JulGstaadGstaad Menuhin Festival
04Météo
This is the most comfortable stretch of the European year, and the calendar was built around it. The Riviera in late May and early June is warm without the heat and crowds of August; Le Mans in mid-June can be hot by day and cold in the small hours, and rain at the circuit is common enough to plan for. London and the Home Counties in June and July are mild, with long evenings and a real chance of rain at any of the outdoor fixtures: Ascot, Wimbledon and Henley have all lost sessions to weather, and Wimbledon's roofs exist for that reason. Basel in June is warm. Paris during couture week can be hot, and Siena on July 2 usually is.
05Et maintenant
The season does not end so much as disperse. By the third week of July the crowd that was in London is in the Mediterranean, on Sardinia's Costa Smeralda, in Saint-Tropez, on Capri or in Mykonos, or at the festivals in Salzburg and Bayreuth. The British season has a formal coda at Glorious Goodwood and Cowes Week in early August. The next fixed point on the international calendar after the Open is the Monterey Car Week in the middle of August, and after that the Venice Film Festival and the US Open at the end of the month, when the autumn begins.