Elections, holidays, sports: Key dates in July for your French calendar

July 1

A host of changes come into effect this day, including anti-speeding devices being required in new cars, and a change to the energy audit (Diagnostic de performance énergétique, DPE) system. 

Read more: Car equipment rule, DPE property ratings eased: July changes in France

Read more: 15 recent and upcoming changes for living in France 

Gas bills will also increase for many homeowners from this date, by around 12%. 

Read more: Gas bills rise in France: compare energy providers

July 6 

Start of summer holidays for French schools across three ‘zones’. 

Schools in all zones will reopen on September 2.

Read more: French school holiday dates for years, 2024-2025, 2025-2026

July 7

Second and final round of the parliamentary elections (the first round was held on June 30). 

This will see 577 MPs elected to the Assemblée Nationale, the lower chamber of the French government. 

Read more: French parliamentary elections: What are the main parties’ policies?

July 11-14

Vieilles Charrues, France’s biggest music festival, takes place in Finistère (Brittany). 

Acts this year include the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Robbie Williams and French rap duo Bigflo & Oli. 

July 14 

France’s national day and normally a bank holiday. However, most people will not be able to take a day off of work as it falls on a Sunday in 2024.

It marks the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, which was one of the most significant events of the French Revolution, and the Fête de la Fédération, a celebration of the unity of the French people, which first took place a year later in 1790.

Read more: France’s July 14 national day: What happens and why? What is new?

July 21

The final leg of the Tour de France. 

However, contrary to most years, it will finish in Nice, due to the preparations for the Olympic Games in Paris.

Read more: SEE: dates of key sports events in France and around the world in 2024

July 23

End of the four-week summer sales, one of two annual periods during which shops in France can legally offer much bigger discounts than usual.

Read more: How to get the best deals in France’s summer sales

July 26

The Olympic Games opening ceremony, ushering in the sporting event. 

Lasting nearly four hours, it will feature a parade of 205 sporting delegations in more than 80 boats on the river Seine in Paris.

July 31

The window opens to make corrections to 2024 income tax declarations (on 2023 income). 

You can do this via your personal space on the French tax site until December 4.