Wine and Twinning Festival 2026 in Saint-Péray: four unforgettable days

Arrival in the Ardèche and a yellow-green sign of recognition

The dress code was immediately visible: a yellow and green neckerchief, the colours of Saint-Péray, available on the market square. In the welcome envelopes there was also a green and a yellow wristband, which over the following days at the Wine and Twinning Festival 2026 served as admission ticket, meal voucher and badge of recognition all in one.

Wherever you walked in the streets you therefore saw the same picture. Germans, Portuguese, Italians and French wore the same colours around their necks, and by the third “bonjour” at the latest it was no longer possible to tell who was guest and who was host. At the Stade de la Plaine the final preparations were under way: tables were moved, benches lined up, the grounds readied for the first big evening.

The German evening: sauerkraut under the open sky

At 7:30 pm began what has long been an established tradition in Saint-Péray: the German evening with the traditional sauerkraut meal. The choucroute has been cooked here for years by people from Groß-Umstadt for the citizens of Saint-Péray, in cauldrons that are more reminiscent of a field kitchen than a restaurant kitchen.

At the long tables families sat next to association chairs, young people next to guests of honour. People laughed, gestured, talked in three languages at once and picked up where they had left off at the May encounter. That is exactly how a good week begins.

The Wine and Twinning Festival 2026 celebrates sixty years of friendship

Friday belonged entirely to the anniversary. At 4:30 pm the Mairie de Saint-Péray invited everyone to the “60 years of twinning” ceremony – that connection which began in 1966 as a sign of reconciliation between two countries and today is a matter of course in the life of both towns. In the town hall a specially designed exhibition accompanied the anniversary and could be seen from 31 August to 4 September.

At 6:00 pm came the official reception of all delegations from the partner towns, followed by a toast of friendship from the town council on the square in front of the town hall. Afterwards the winegrowers and innkeepers of Saint-Péray took over the square with their food stalls and wine bars.

The highlight came at 8:30 pm with the crowning of the wine queen and her princesses. That evening there was a double celebration, because the Saint-Péray appellation marked its 90th anniversary – since 1936 the white wine from Marsanne and Roussanne has borne the AOC seal.

Saturday: the 41st wine and gastronomy fair

While from seven in the morning the sports enthusiasts were out and about – cycling and gravel rally, hike, the rugby tournament “Tournoi des vignerons”, running, pétanque and football –, the 41st wine and gastronomy fair opened its tents at 9:30 am at the Tennis Club.

Organised by the wine brotherhood of Saint-Péray, around 75 winegrower stands stood packed together in the Tennis Club, the great majority from estates in the immediate surroundings. Anyone who took their time at every stand could not actually get through in one day. A few of us nevertheless took it as a sporting challenge and really did taste at every single one – an achievement still being talked about in the delegation on Sunday.

The most beautiful moment of the fair was created by the brotherhood at its own ceremony: Jürgen Grasmück, chairman of the OWK Groß-Umstadt, was solemnly admitted to its ranks. Anyone who knows how many decades he has been nurturing friendships with Saint-Péray understands why this admission was far more than a gesture – it made visible in a single image what the Wine and Twinning Festival 2026 is really about. If you would like to dive deeper into the wines and the history of the place, you will find plenty to read on the official website of the municipality of Saint-Péray.

Long tables on Place Dode

In the evening the town centre turned into one big inn parlour. From 7:00 pm musical strolls moved through the alleys, concerts played on three squares, and on Place Dode the hosts laid the tables for the delegations.

The music that evening was provided by our own people. The Kleestädter Feuerwehrmusikanten played, and by the first familiar tune even those who don’t understand a word of German were singing along. It never ceases to amaze how quickly a brass band dispenses with language barriers.

Later the company moved on to the illuminated alleys, where craft market, concerts and wine bars stayed open until deep into the night. Some had packed the traditional costume of the Odenwald – and were photographed on every corner for it.

Sunday at the Château de Beauregard: the official ceremony

At 10:30 am all delegations gathered in the park of the Château de Beauregard for the official heart of the Wine and Twinning Festival 2026. Under the old trees the flags of France, Germany, Portugal, Italy and Europe stood side by side, in front of them hundreds of yellow neckerchiefs. L’Harmonie de Saint-Péray played, and then they spoke one after another: the hosts, and the representatives from Groß-Umstadt, Asso and Santo Tirso.

In addition to our partnership, Saint-Péray has maintained a connection with Asso in Lombardy since 2001 and with Santo Tirso since 2011. Four towns, four languages, one morning – and the lovely realisation that Groß-Umstadt and Santo Tirso are connected twice over here. At the reception that followed at 12:00, this kinship was toasted in no particular hurry.

Egypt in the alleys: the big parade

At 3:30 pm the parade set off, the colourful highlight of the Wine and Twinning Festival 2026, and the twinning committees marched this year under a shared theme: Egypt. Golden belts, headbands, flowing robes, and in between the wine royalty on their floats and music groups from four countries.

From 5:15 pm all the music groups performed together once more on Place de l’Hôtel de Ville. The final full stop was set at 7:30 pm by the twinning committee’s farewell dinner with all delegations at the Domaine Victoria – an evening on which far more was hugged than eaten. On Monday morning at eight o’clock the vehicles were back at the Relais Maladière.

International understanding in practice, without big words

Europe is not made in conference rooms but at long tables on Place Dode, in the queue in front of the sauerkraut cauldron and in clearing up together on Sunday evening. The Wine and Twinning Festival 2026 demonstrated that four days in a row. This is precisely where our committee’s charitable mission lies: international understanding, cultural exchange and a humanist worldview that needs no explaining when you experience it.

What was remarkable this year was how many of those who travelled were not association members at all. They came out of curiosity because someone had told them about it, and went home as part of a very large family. Sixty years after the signing, our twinning is no longer an administrative act but a habit of the heart.

How these days felt last year you can read in our review of the Wine and Twinning Festival 2025 in Saint-Péray – the comparison nicely shows how much the anniversary shaped this year.