Loire Festival 2025: the Alpine lakes of France, Italy and Switzerland guests of honor

This is a first in the history of the Loire Festival which honors boatmen every two years in Orléans, in 2025, it is not a river as is usual which will be the guest of honor of the event but of the lakes. More precisely the Alpine lakes of France, Italy and Switzerland which will be invited to present their navigation from September 24 to 28.

Alpine lakes, like the Loire, have a great tradition of commercial navigation and have played a key role in trade between the three countries of the mountain range. This choice of organizing the Loire Festival must also mark the importance of the water cycle in the life of rivers and their good health. From the eternal snow of the summits which feed the watercourses to the river estuaries, they mark the continuity between mountains and sea.

The traditional boats from these lakes will be present in Orléans to allow the public to discover these boats designed to navigate sometimes unpredictable waters. And the question of access to water and the preservation of this essential resource threatened by climate change will also be at the heart of the 2025 Loire Festival of which France Bleu Orléans and France 3 Centre-Val de Loire are partners.