From Saturday 17 to Wednesday 21 October 2026, the first weekend of the All Saints school holidays, the Calvados Département is hosting the Equidays: five days celebrating the horse, with a free travelling village that sets up in a different town each day (Caen, Bayeux, Vire, Falaise, then Lisieux), a parade through the streets every evening at 6.30 pm, and around a hundred events across the département, from Thoroughbred breeding studs to riding centres. Entry to the village is free, but several visits to studs, to the Garde républicaine or to the Arqana sales must be booked in advance, with limited places.
Equidays 2026: five Calvados towns, five days celebrating the horse
The idea behind the Equidays fits in a sentence: every afternoon, from 2 pm to 6.30 pm, the village sets up in the heart of a host town, and the parade then closes the day by winding through the streets from 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm. The calendar published by the Département is as follows:
- Saturday 17 October, Caen: place de la République, entrance on rue Jean Eudes. Maximum capacity of 5,000 people.
- Sunday 18 October, Bayeux: place Gauquelin Despallières, entrances on rue Montfiquet and rue de Cabourg. Capacity of 5,000 people.
- Monday 19 October, Vire: place du Château, entrance via place Nationale. Capacity of 3,000 people.
- Tuesday 20 October, Falaise: château de la Fresnaye, entrance through the gate on rue Georges Clémenceau. Capacity of 3,000 people.
- Wednesday 21 October, Lisieux: place de la République, entrance on rue des Mathurins. Capacity of 3,000 people.
This is not a first. The Equidays have already taken over Calvados in October 2021, from the 23rd to the 28th, with six host towns including Deauville, and again in 2023, from 21 to 25 October, with the same travelling-village model. The 2026 edition tightens the formula to five towns and five days, timed to the start of the school holidays.
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Equidays 2026: five Calvados towns, a nightly horse parade and open studs
From 17 to 21 October, the Equidays set up a free village in Caen, Bayeux, Vire, Falaise and Lisieux, with a parade every evening at 6.30 pm and around a hundred horse events across Calvados.
The Equidays village: pony rides, a farrier and free equestrian shows
The village is designed for families and for children who have never been near a horse. There are pony rides, carriage rides, a presentation of local donkeys, an obstacle course for children, a “pony jump” to see who can leap highest, a mechanical rodeo, a bouncy castle and horse-themed games (giant hobby horses, horseshoe throwing, colouring).
Two shows return every day in the arena. The Norman rider Elisa Laville, who won the first Équi’star competition at the Salon du cheval de Paris in 2015, presents her horses and ponies at 2.30 pm and 5.30 pm, for 45 minutes. At 4 pm, the Académie d’équitation comportementale de Firfol gives an hour-long demonstration with its Irish Cobs. The cast of the series “Au galop!”, which has followed the lives of two Norman riding centres for five seasons, are announced at the village.
Horse careers on show at the Equidays: from osteopath to saddler
The village also doubles as a careers fair. The farrier Valentin Girou forges and shoes in public. Équi-ressources, the service specialising in employment and career guidance in the equine sector, presents the training courses and the jobs that are recruiting in Calvados. Afasec, the racing school, has a stand on careers with racehorses. The École d’ostéopathie animale européenne, based in Lisieux, presents its curriculum.
Each stop also has its own scientific or technical workshop, which changes from one town to the next:
- Caen (Saturday): Anses runs “In the shoes of a scientist: investigating equine diseases”, and the IFCE presents its saddler-harness maker training.
- Bayeux (Sunday): the IFCE and its saddlery workshop, plus a sensory activity for children built around the Totemik horse mask.
- Vire (Monday): the Hippolia competitiveness cluster presents innovation in the equine sector and the identification of plants that are toxic to horses; the IFCE’s final day.
- Falaise (Tuesday): the Labéo laboratory offers a workshop on the causes of abortion in mares.
- Lisieux (Wednesday): an introduction to the horse in virtual reality.
RESPE, the equine disease surveillance network, is announced with veterinary students who will present horse health in the form of a consultation.
The 6.30 pm Equidays parade: the horse procession through the streets of Calvados
Each evening, when the village closes, the parade sets off from the same place as the village and winds through the town centre for an hour. It is led by the ringmaster and the “Fiers à cheval” of the Quidams company, accompanied by circus artists from the Libellune company: stilt walkers, dancers and fire-eaters. The Département has published the route of each parade, town by town. In mid-October the sun sets around 7 pm in Normandy, so the procession ends at nightfall.
Studs, Arqana, Garde républicaine: the horse visits to book in Calvados
Beyond the village, around a hundred events are grouped into five families (professional, cultural, discovery, fun, sporting). Several are free but require advance registration, as the capacity for visits is deliberately small. The most sought after:
- The Garde républicaine, Sunday 18 October, 2 pm to 2.45 pm, at the Pôle international du cheval Longines in Deauville, at Saint-Arnoult: the Garde, which has had a permanent post there since September 2022, opens its stables to present its work, its training and its equipment. Booking essential.
- Behind the scenes of “Au galop!”, Sunday 18 October, 11 am to 12 noon, at the same venue: a guided tour led by Franck Le Mestre, the site director, taking in the stables, the competitions and the filming of the series. Free, booking required. The same day, from 8 am to 6 pm, a club and pony show jumping competition for under-18s runs there, with free entry.
- The Arqana October yearling sales, Wednesday 21 October, 10 am to 10.30 am, in Deauville: a guided tour of the sale, which runs from 19 to 24 October.
- The Saint-Blaize stud, Monday 19 October at 11 am: the opening of its trotting track, set in 100 acres (40 hectares) of pasture where Selle Français are bred and where gallopers and trotters are prepared. Free, registration required, places limited.
- The Ecajeul stud, Monday 19 October at 4 pm, at Le Mesnil-Mauger: a Thoroughbred breeding operation founded in 1947, which its breeder Jean-Luc Bara shows visitors around.
The list of open studs also includes Étreham, Glos, la Huderie, la Barbotière, Montfort and Préaux, among others, as well as three equine veterinary clinics (Bayeux-La Madelaine, Côte Fleurie, Le Livet). For children, the Gruchy stud offers a workshop titled “Ourasi, trotting legend”, and Caen racecourse is staging a trotting meeting. On the history side, the Mémorial de Falaise hosts a talk on the horses of the German army during the Second World War.
- Capacity: Caen and Bayeux admit up to 5,000 people, Vire, Falaise and Lisieux 3,000. The smaller venues fill up faster on a holiday.
- The workshop of the day: it changes at each stop (saddlery in Caen, Bayeux and Vire, toxic plants in Vire, virtual reality in Lisieux).
- Your children’s ages: pony rides and the pony jump for the youngest, stud visits and scientific workshops for the older ones.
- Booking: the Garde républicaine, the behind-the-scenes tour of “Au galop!”, the studs and Arqana all require registration; the village does not.
- Timing: arrive before 2.30 pm for Elisa Laville’s first show, and stay until 6.30 pm for the parade.
- The October weather: the village is outdoors, and the parade ends after dark.
Why Calvados celebrates the horse: France’s leading département for horse breeding
Calvados does not choose the horse by chance. The Département presents itself as the leading French département for horse breeding, and also for the number of equines on farms, with a leading position in equine research. It has seven racecourses and around a hundred riding centres. The Pays d’Auge is home to many of the Thoroughbred studs that supply the Deauville sales, and the Pôle international du cheval at Saint-Arnoult hosts international competitions in show jumping, dressage, polo and horseball.
The Département’s stated aim goes beyond a tourist showcase: to bring the region to life “through and for the horse”, and to introduce young people to the careers of the sector, from farriery to the care of racehorses.
What we still do not know about the 2026 Equidays and their horses
A week before the opening, several points remain open. The official website shows neither an attendance target nor any figures for the 2021 and 2023 editions. The detailed programme of the hundred events may still change, and the visits requiring registration, open since 8 September, have limited places: nothing indicates how many are left. Finally, a street parade with fire performers remains subject to the evening weather: the official site mentions no fallback in the event of heavy rain.
Département du Calvados, official Equidays website (pages “Les Equidays: the event”, “The Equidays village”, “The parade”, “Events across the region”, “Practical information”, and the pages on the Saint-Blaize and Ecajeul studs, consulted on 10 October 2026); Calvados Attractivité and Normandie Tourisme (Equidays 2026 listings: behind the scenes of “Au galop!”, club and pony competition at the Pôle international du cheval); Unidivers listings (meeting with the Garde républicaine, guided tour of the Arqana sales); France Télévisions (the series “Au galop! Une saison à cheval”); Tendance Ouest (2021 edition). Equirider is not affiliated with the Département du Calvados, with the organisers, or with any of the bodies mentioned.
If the Equidays make your child want to carry on, our equestrian directory for Calvados lists 331 businesses, riding centres, pony clubs, studs and horse professionals, and our tool for finding a riding centre near you helps you choose a club. For teenagers drawn to the careers stands, here are the horse jobs that are recruiting. And to understand why Normandy is horse country, read our feature on the horse in Normandy, our figures on horse breeding in France, or the story of Ourasi, the idle king who won four Prix d’Amérique.
