The strong traditional French pride is well alive at Le Son Continu, a four-day weekend festival of social dance, ‘folk bals’, regional cuisine and farm producers, music, and master instrument makers.
People gather annually at the heart of France, in the lovely Le château d’Ars, Indre, Loire, over the Bastille Day long weekend; 2026 dates are: July 11 – 14, marking the 50th anniversary of the meeting of master luthiers and musicians which first took place in Saint-Chartier.
For the July festival, the tickets go on sale around early April every year. The tickets, available in a few different formats including all-day festival pass (with/without camping), to daily pass (with/without camping), are very affordable, reflecting the balfolk scene’s ethos of keeping great accessibility for all.
Location: Le château d’Ars, Indre, Centre-Val de Loire
The castle was first built in the 14th century for the Lords of Ars. With the area’s promotion to duchy in 1516, the castle was remodeled in the Renaissance style. It was acquired shortly before the Revolution by two wealthy local farmers, Jean-Baptiste and Jacques Papet.
It was Jean-Baptiste’s grandson, Gustave Papet, a close friend of George Sand, who attended Chopin near his death as a physician, and brought much festivity to the castle along with Sand. The castle features in her novel, “These beautiful gentlemen of Bois-Doré,” and she adored the location. Her own family had roots in Nohant, now about seven minutes away by car, where Sand and Chopin spent seven summers between 1839 and 1846.
Indre, full of summer bounty, became a centre point of the centenary of the birth of George Sand in 1976. This first festival, Les Rencontres Internationales de Luthiers et Maîtres-Sonneurs later moved to Château d’Ars.
After a bit of waxing and waning, the current festival went through a major revival in January 2014, and since then, it has become a central summer celebration for all who love traditional folk dance and music.
Travel to Le Son Continu
Le château d’Ars can be accessed through two larger cities: Limoges (airport) and Chateauroux (train). The nearest walkable town to the festival is La Châtre.
During the festival, there are limited bus service from Chateauroux, with a local bus stop about 30 minutes away from Le château d’Ars; however, as the festival takes place over the biggest summer holiday weekend in France, Bastille Day, car rental from Limoges (especially if you are flying into Limoges) or Chateauroux (about 40km one-way), may be the most practical solution.
There are minimally organized carpools on social media and at the festival site itself, and local taxis are available, though the charges can be eye-watering. The truly determined can walk to La Châtre for some shopping/coffee, et cetera, but take caution that the high summer central French sun can be fierce.
It may also be interesting for cycling fans to check the Tour de France route, as Chateauroux is often featured in the tour stages; the 2026 Tour will start in Spain and then cross over starting in stage 4. The exact routes for 2026 are announced usually a month before the Tour.
Staying for the festival
There are accommodations available at La Châtre, and there are commercial campgrounds near the festival. There is also an option of staying at the festival campground for a nominal fee. Walkers and drivers share the lot, and you must bring your own camping/car stay gear.
There are environmentally friendly toilets (which get topped with fresh sawdust), and shower stalls are available. Every morning, a local bio shop will bring limited provisions to the festival gate, including fresh pastries and fruits, with a hot coffee and tea stall. There are food trucks and services available at the festival, both international and French local cuisine. The beer tent goes on throughout the evening, serving the thirsty musicians and dancers of the midnight bal, into the wee hours.
Luthiers and Instrument Fair
Le Son Continu hosts one of the largest and most varied meeting of luthiers, exclusively making folk instruments. Coming from all over Europe, fifes, drums, hurdygurdies, bagpipes (a particular pride of the region), bouzoukis, guitars, citterns and nyckelharpa of all sorts are available for try-outs, and purchase.
This year, over 140 luthiers made the trip, and it is great to see such a tradition being continued with great energy. The craftsmanship is superb, and the relaxed atmosphere makes the fair a true living experience.
Music and Dance
There are various bands assigned for the four official stages — one for music performance, and three for bands and dancing. However, as the title suggests, the music never really stops during the four days, and people often break out in spontaneous dances all over the ground.
There will be many small sessions taking place at picnic tables, near the luthiers’ exhibition areas, and the festival will erect a few informal stages with partial programming in addition to the larger stages. Ranging from super traditional medieval bands to new, crossover balfolk music groups, different stages will cater to different levels of dancing, but all sessions do feature one or two easy dances to invite everyone onto the stage.
During the festival, there are competitions held every day for musicians; one can catch them according to the festival schedule, and see what the bright talent’s been up to.
The music focuses largely on French, Breton, and other European styles, especially Celtic and Balfolk; some of the popular dance forms include: Bourrées, Waltz, Scottishes, Polka, Contra, Flemish Masurka, Polska and Gigue/Chapelloise.
Some dances are quite intricate — if you are interested in attending 2026 Le Son Continu, it would be a great idea to get in touch with Balfolk Toronto, which hosts regular weekly balfolk dance sessions and bals. Their major event, the Big Branch Festival, will take place this September 5 to 7 near Bancroft, Ontario.
However, at the bals, as it’s tradition to dance with many new partners, you might find a lovely partner, or several, to stretch your imagination and dance skills. Unlike most dance events, bals are very open, inviting truly the very young to old people, so when a hand is offered, it’s a good thing to take courage and join them!
The midnight bal is a major draw of the festival. As families with young children retreat to sleep after a long day of music and dancing, the young, excited dancers will fill out the ground with a walking traffic jam to get in at 11 p.m.
Taking place at the La Pommeraie/Apple Orchard, the bal traditionally features two bands, midnight to 2 a.m., then 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. or later, for Fri/Sat/Sunday, then one at 11 p.m. for Monday.
This year, the festival featured music from Auvergne, Massif Central, Occitan-Provençal, Gascogne, Sardinia, and Burgundy. Each group, fiercely proud of their regional roots, will bring various instruments and ensemble formats, and get over 600 dancers onto the floor, all night long.
Who should go?
If you’ve been curious about medieval and traditional instruments, this is a great place to hear them all live, and you may have a try at a new instrument at a luthier’s stall.
If you ever wondered what happened to the older dance forms that we listen to, this is your chance to see how the forms survived time and history, and remain vital in dedicated dancers’ steps.
If experiencing French culture in detail — if the nature, gastronomy, the regional feel of central France ticks your box — this would be an excellent stop, and it is easy to incorporate further travel to other places within France thanks to the extensive rail system.
The fierce French dedication to local food and wine, along with this lovely festival, is a great way to travel through the less touristic, genuine beauty of the French countryside, with great soundtracks of the current balfolk scene, its deep roots buried in those amazing instruments —for musicians, master luthiers, and lovers of folk culture.
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