Moving to a new city usually starts with the same question: where do I begin? In Montpellier, September answers it for you. In three weeks the city packs in music festivals, buildings that stay closed the rest of the year, and film premieres. It is the best month to get to know the place — and to meet people without having to try too hard.
Here are five events we recommend, with the practical details you need to get there.
1. Beer Love Fest — grand finale at the Peyrou, 11 and 12 September
Montpellier’s craft beer festival turns ten this year. After a week of events in partner bars across the metropolitan area, everything wraps up on the Promenade du Peyrou, one of the finest viewpoints in the city.
- When: Friday 11 September (5pm–midnight) and Saturday 12 September (12pm–midnight)
- Where: Promenade du Peyrou — tram lines 4 and 5
- Price: from €8 on Friday, free entry on Saturday
- What’s on: more than 60 breweries and 600 beers to taste, 10 food trucks, and DJ sets with Kbira, Yuksek and Dylan Dylan on Friday
Our tip: come on Saturday. Entry is free, the daytime atmosphere is family-friendly, and it is by far the easiest setting to start a conversation with the people next to you.
2. Festival Arabesques — until 20 September
Now in its 21st edition, Arabesques brings the cultures of the Arab world into dialogue with the contemporary scene: world music, jazz, stand-up, exhibitions and talks, spread across the Opéra Comédie, the Domaine d’O and the Halle Tropisme.
- When: 8 to 20 September 2026
- Where: several venues across Montpellier — the Domaine d’O is on tram line 1, Malbosc stop
- Highlights: Imarhan, Anouar Brahem, Ino Casablanca, Sahravane, comedian Amine Radi, and a closing night under the stars with Yasmine Hamdan and Souad Massi
- Website: festivalarabesques.fr
Don’t skip La Médina, the festival’s social space, with homemade gazelle horns, makrouts, snowballs, cigares and Moroccan pancakes. Open Thursday and Friday from 6.30pm, Saturday 2pm to midnight, Sunday 2pm to 11pm.
3. European Heritage Days — 19 and 20 September
This is the weekend Montpellier opens the doors that stay shut all year. The city of private mansions unlocks several of them, and this year devotes one of the densest programmes in the country to photography.
Rarely open: the medieval mikveh on rue de la Barralerie, a 12th-century Jewish ritual bath and one of the best preserved in Europe; the Hôtel de Grave and Hôtel de Villarmois; the Hôtel d’Aurès and the garden of the former bishop’s palace; the Hérault prefecture; the Costumotek and its stock of over ten thousand costumes; the Droguier of the pharmacy faculty; and Pierresvives, the Zaha Hadid building.
The classics: eight sessions at the Musée Fabre including “Design according to Pierre Paulin”, five at the Opéra Comédie with backstage access, the Bonnier de la Mosson estate and its pocket concerts, and Saint-Pierre cathedral with its Urbain V tower and organ.
With kids: a family visit for ages 6–10, “The painter and his materials”, at the Musée Fabre, “Contes en vadrouille” story readings, and the “Agence NO-FUTUR” workshop.
The two 2026 themes: photographic heritage, centred on Pierresvives with the Hérault departmental archives (including a cyanotype workshop), and heritage at risk, with the secrets of restored artworks at the Musée Fabre.
Good to know: several visits require booking. Check the conditions on each listing and book early — slots go fast.
4. Les Internationales de la Guitare — from 20 September
The festival takes over as the Heritage Days end and runs through to 18 October. Its promise: an eclectic, demanding programme in which the guitar is the thread running between very different genres — classical, jazz, contemporary and world music.
- When: 20 September to 18 October 2026
- Where: Montpellier and across the Hérault
- Website: les-ig.com
5. Cinemed — the premieres start in September
The Mediterranean Film Festival runs from 16 to 24 October for its 48th edition, with a poster paying tribute to Spanish director Pablo Berger and Camélia Jordana among the guests. Expect more than 200 screenings, filmmaker Q&As and cultural events.
Tickets for the premieres and festival passes are already on sale. The first screening is on Thursday 17 September at the Médiathèque Émile Zola with Nabil Ayouch’s Everybody Loves Touda, followed by L’Affaire Marie-Claire on Saturday 17 October and En haut de la pile on Monday 19 October, both at the Corum.
Website: cinemed.tm.fr
The real challenge: not going alone
Finding a festival is easy. Going when you don’t know anyone is a different matter — and it is usually what separates “I saw a concert” from “I had a great night”. At New Here we organise outings and meetups so you can discover Montpellier as part of a group, from your very first weeks here.
Join our next event
Browse the upcoming New Here outings and book your spot. You’ll leave with new places to go back to, familiar faces and the start of a local network.
