Printemps des Cimetières 2024 in Paris, free events

Printemps des Cimetières is back all over France and Belgium, and especially in Paris, this Friday, May 24, Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26, 2024, to showcase these heritage sites while revealing various aspects often little known to the general public, through free activities that highlight their landscape value, rich biodiversity and cultural interest.

Of course, this highly diversified program is always held with the strictest respect for these places of remembrance and meditation for families, and also enables the Cemetery Service to present the funeral professions and raise public awareness of theecological upkeep of the sites and their biodiversity.

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This year, the theme of the events organized by Cemetery Service staff and partner associations is"Women in Cemeteries". Nearly 300 events are on offer throughout France and Belgium, including activities, exhibitions, guided tours and artistic performances, accessible to the curious young and old alike! Find out more about the program.

Some events of the Printemps des Cimetières 2024 in Paris :

• Cimetière du Montparnasse: Sunday, May 26
  
  
  • Do you own a grave and think you know everything about your rights and obligations? Do you have questions about death, are you a "taphophile" (passionate about cemeteries), or simply curious? Test your funerary knowledge by challenging the Ankou, messenger of Death, to our "Funeral pursuit"!
    
    
  • Proposed by the association Les Aliennes: to raise awareness of the place of women in culture and highlight the funerary heritage of Parisian cemeteries.
    Group of 20 people.
    Registration required by e-mail: hello@lesaliennes.org.
    
    
  • Discover the Montparnasse cemetery through the eyes of a janitor with a passion for cinema, but not only. Appointments at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
    
    
  • Since 2015, the City of Paris has stopped using phytosanitary products for cemetery maintenance. A stand to discover and understand new cemetery maintenance methods that are more respectful of biodiversity. See you at 10 a.m.

• Cimetière des Batignolles: Sunday, May 26
  
  
  • The personalities and singular tombs of the Cimetière des Batignolles. Come and discover the Cimetière des Batignolles, its personalities, famous or sometimes wrongly forgotten, and its most singular tombs! See you at 2.30pm.
    
    
  • Civil and military personalities at the Cimetière des Batignolles. Come and discover the Cimetière des Batignolles and the famous or sometimes mistakenly forgotten civil and military figures buried there! Appointment at 10:30 am.

  • The cemetery's funerary heritage at 10:30 am
    Walk proposed by the association Les Aliennes.

  • Singing tour at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.
    Discover the artists buried in the cemetery.

• Père-Lachaise Cemetery: Sunday, May 26
  
  
  • A play telling the story of the Paris Commune of 1871. 11 communardes and communards recount the 72 days of the Commune up to the bloody week. At 3pm, free admission
    
    
  • Sarah Bernhardt at Père-Lachaise. Meet at 2.30pm at Porte Gambetta, in the Père-Lachaise cemetery, to discover the tomb of the famous tragedienne, as well as those of people close to her.
    
    
  • Adancing allegory in tribute to the anonymouswomen who, behind and in front of the barricades, fought for justice, peace and freedom. Memories of unknown women to recall from time to time. 4pm, 18 avenue Gambetta.

• Cimetière de Passy: Sunday, May 26
  
  
  • Reading at 3pm of extracts from Le Pur et l'Impur by Colette and poems and short stories by Renée Vivien.
    Renée Vivien was a poet, translator of Sapho, and a leading figure in Belle Epoque lesbian Paris. She was also an alcoholic, anorexic and fascinated by death.
    Years after her untimely death, her famous friend Colette wrote a chapter in her memory in her book Le Pur et l'Impur.

• Charonne Cemetery: Sunday, May 26 at 4 and 5 p.m.
  
  
  • Céline BELLANGER, artist with La Comédie des Anges, has created a poetic time for the Charonne cemetery. An intimate dialogue is created with Pascale Vignal and Céline Bellanger, who had the opportunity to play with Emmanuelle Riva, poetess and great actress of the new wave. She will then propose a time of contemplation and writing on the spot. Poetry of the moment inspired by this encounter and the location.

A day offree events, combining nature and culture, to transform the image of Parisian cemeteries . The full program can be found on the Printemps des Cimetières website.

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