As residents of Sallanches, we have watched the 🎭 children’s festival « Les Enfants d’Abord » get bigger and better each year! (the festival has now been running for a quarter of a century, with a couple of years of absence due to Covid!).
Over 4 days, every afternoon and evening (15h30 until 18h30) the pedestrian streets of Sallanches, as well as the quais, the Pré de Foire, the Place de la Grenette, the Place Saint-Jacques, and 📚 the Médiathèque Ange Abrate play host to FREE games, activities, 🎨 workshops, déambulations and spectacles for CHILDREN! In effect, Sallanches becomes a giant playground!
NEW for the 2022 edition:
- Tac’inette la Chouette – a jeu de piste;
- Ciné Mont-Blanc – will organise a morning film at 10h30;
- a programme for the tiny ones (18 months to 2 years);
[ ⇒ to peruse the full schedule of workshops & events and 🗺 a map of where all the activities are taking place, see here ]
Workshops & Activities
The festival offers 🎨 diverse workshops, some that you must sign up for beforehand ( at the OT de Sallanches: 32 quai de l’Hotel-de-Ville / tel: 04 50 58 04 25 ), and some which you can try out en accès libre.
Some workshops and games return every year by popular demand (Terre de Jeux, Les Savants Fous, Centre de la Nature Montagnarde, la Médiathèaue Ange Abrate, L’Oiseau de Passage, Bureau des Guides de Sallanches, Mam’zelle Pasel, and there are also new additions.
And even if you don’t manage to get a place at the workshops requiring an inscription, there are also lots of other 🎨 workshops and activities on offer that you don’t need to sign up for, so it is still really worthwhile to wander around and see what takes your fancy! A few years back, when I had a baby in a buggy and a toddler, we just enjoyed a 🐺 colouring & mask-making workshop and the games set up along the quais.
Here are some of the workshops and games available for children, en accès libre:
- Le Parcours Aventure (6+ years) with the Bureau des Guides de Sallanches – tyrolienne, pont népalais, filet de pirates . . . all over the Sallanche river!
- Ludik Aventure (3+ years) – balance skills and adventure for wee ones!
- 🎲 Les Jeux Géants (for all ages!) from Terre de Jeux – along the Quai Alexandre Curral;
- 🎪 Les Arts de Cirque (3+ years) from L’Oiseau de Passage;
- 🐺 Centre de la Nature Montagnarde – creative and nature workshops!
Spectacles & La Nocturne
« Les Enfants d’Abord » is a children’s festival rich in 🎭 the performance arts!
There are entertaining 🎭 déambulations every day from 15h30 – Tac’inette (the owl mascot), bubbles, puppets, humour . . .
And in addition, 🎪 every evening at 17h will be a spectacle jeune publique (6 months to 3 years) and then a spectacle tout publique at 19h.
🏙 La Nocturne des Enfants d’Abord – entertainment will continue into the night on Wednesday 10th August: music and circus and a lantern tour . . .
Tac’inette, la chouette mascotte !
Look out for 🦉 Tac’inette, the cute mascot of « Les Enfants d’Abord », always happy to give you a cuddle or pose for a photo!
Where to grab a snack during the festival
There are plenty of spots up and down the quais to grab 🥤 a drink or snack during the festival:
- there will be a Coin Sucré set up on the Place de la Grenette on Wednesday 10th August;
- foodtrucks on-site: Sherpa Kitchen (Nepalese specialities), Haut Galettes and Ciné Pizza;
- 🍦La Cabane à Glaces (on the Quai Alexandre Curral);
- 🍰 Chocola’thé for fresh juices and cake;
- 🍰 Délicat Délice for cake!
- a friendly Carrefour Express;
And it is lovely to head down to the 💦 water’s edge of the Sallanche river for a wade and cool down (disclaimer: be careful with young children!) . . .
And don’t forget that you also have 🌈 two fabulous playgrounds in the centre of Sallanches!
Mont Blanc Family Fun 