Are you looking for new ways to learn and practice French when you’re not in class? Magali and Sébastien from the Student Activities Office have a great program waiting for you, whether you’re here in Besançon on learning online.
Our student activities are all about having fun, meeting other people from all over the world, and discovering new things about the French way of life for a fully immersive experience.
Contact: culturel-cla@univ-fcomte.fr, tel. +33 (0)3 81 66 52 22
Our Student Activities
This offer is for CLA students only.
To discover new ways of learning about French culture and language, join us online to chat and play with students from all over the world.
Program of the Week –April 14th-16th, 2021
To join us online, click on the link below at the scheduled time.
To participate, please send an email indicating your name, language level and activity or activities you wish to take part in to culturel-cla@univ-fcomte.fr.
Don’t forget to specify the date!
Please note that all times are local (French time).
Link to participate online:
https://rdv1.rendez-vous.renater.fr/claculturel
Please do not click directly on this link, but copy-paste it into your browser and click on “open with your browser” at the bottom of the page.
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In the summer, which is the busiest time of the year at the CLA, we go all out to make sure you get to meet plenty of new people: activities, shows and concerts every evening and trips to local places of interest at the weekend. Enjoy your summer with us!
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A Wide Array of Activities all year round
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- Take a guided trip with us and discover monuments, museums, and picturesque heritage sites, or visit local artisan cheese or chocolate factories. Our day or weekend trip destinations include French cities like Strasbourg, Lyon, and Marseille, and neighbouring countries such as Germany and Switzerland. |
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- Come and enjoy dancing, sports or games during one of our fun evening events, or check out one of the theatre, music, cinema or dance shows organized by our cultural partners. |
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- Discover Le Tour du Monde en 80 plats (Around the World in 80 Dishes), a unique food festival during which you can sample specialities from the dozens of countries our students come from. |
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- Play over 40 differents sports for free with the Université de Franche-Comté's Sports Program for students. |
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- Meet French people by participating in our activities organized in collaboration with local partners (schools, retirement homes, etc.). Taste French cuisine and learn to cook during one of our foodie events. |
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Become a radio host by taking part in RadioCampus Besançon’s show "Sais-tu d'où je viens" (“Do you know where I’m from?”). Once a week, our international students take listeners on a virtual trip around the world: a great way to learn more about music, culture and languages! |
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- Find your language exchange partner by signing up for our tandems linguistiques program, here in Besançon or online. |
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- The Student Activities office often works with teachers and the staff at the CLA Media Centre to put together pedagogical projects: field trips, radio, literature or conversation workshops, etc. |
Things to do in Besançon all year round
| Livres dans la Boucle – Besançon’s very own book festival. Meet authors and discover the best reads of the moment. |
Détonation live music festival: see shows by a variety of French and international artists and bands. |
The international Music Festival features concerts by symphonic orchestras, as well as chamber, vocal and world music. |
| The Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors This competition, which has been been taking place every other year since 1951, is an occasion to discover talented young conductors from all over the world. |
Serious Festival An alternative, family-friendly festival featuring circus acts, concerts, karaoke, games and workshops. |
Swamp Fest See concerts by rockabilly, blues or rock bands on Thise airfield, just outside Besançon ! |
| Art Book Fair This event brings together art publishers and artists from the Burgundy-Franche-Comté contemporary art network for a weekend of presentations and performances. |
Les Pampilles In Chaucenne, come and watch theatre, music, puppet and storytelling performances. |
European Heritage Days This annual event offers unique opportunities to visit sites, buildings and monuments, many of which are not usually accessible to the public. Admission to local museums is also free or discounts available. |
| Les Jeux du Baroque is a cross-border baroque music festival which takes place in France and Switzerland. It features concerts, exhibitions, visits of heritage sites and workshops. |
Du Bitume et des plumes is a street theatre and music festival starring performances by local and/or up-and-coming artists. |
Biennal of Visual Arts Come and discover contemporary art by local painters, sculptors, photographers, engravers and more. |
| Lumières d’Afrique is Besançon’s African Film Festival, a competition featuring fiction films, documentaries, short films and the chance to discover rare works of art. |
Génériq This fun and innovative festival is all about promoting music by new bands and unique musical experiences in the streets of Besançon. |
| The International Festival of World Languages and Cultures offers a diverse program with shows, acting workshops, and a chance to meet artists. |
| Rock out at the Monf’Rock punk rock festival! |
Excentricités An event during which European and international artists and art students gather to share their experience and reflect on performance art today. |
| Crime Fiction Festival Discover local murder mystery authors and other international guests! |
Besançon-Montfaucon Festival At this baroque festival, music is performed using period instruments, and concerts are played at local heritage sites, putting baroque music in its cultural and architectural context. |
Festival de Caves This theatre festival takes place in very unusual locations: local cellars and basements! |
| Bien Urbain Created in 2011, this festival is a gathering of international street artists who work at turning Besançon into an open air contemporary art museum. |
Jours de danse This dance festival uses public spaces inside the town of Besançon to host performances by French and international ensembles. |
Orgue en ville This organ festival features performances by exceptional organists as well as concerts during which organ music is paired with other art forms (photography, theatre, poetry, etc.), for a unique experience. |
| Saônorités This free music festival presents a day of rock, funk, folk or reggae concerts in Saône, just outside Besançon. |
Paroles nomades This itinerant festival is centered on speech and storytelling, making sure everyone can share and have their say. |
Fête de la musique During this annual music celebration, which takes place around the time of the summer solstice, amateur musicians play outside in their neighbourhoods, or in public spaces and parks. Free concerts by professional musicians are also organized. |
| Les 24h du temps This event celebrating watch-making expertise/know-how allows you to discover treasures of watchmaking on the Promenade Granvelle and in the courtyard of the Besançon Museum of Time. |
| Soirées Granvelle Every Friday and Saturday evening, from mid-July to mid-August, the courtyard of the Palais Granvelle is a venue for outdoor concerts: jazz, blues, rock and world music on Fridays, classical music on Saturdays. |
Mardis des Rives During the summer, Besançon and other nearby towns and villages located along the Doubs organize free concerts along the banks of the river where residents and visitors of all ages can enjoy sets by local artists and bands. |
Pétanque sonore This boules contest pairs pétanque and sets by local DJs. |
