11–13 December 2026 on the Avenue de Champagne
Épernay confirms the 26th Habits de Lumière for Friday 11, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December 2026. The City of Épernay organises it with the Avenue de Champagne Committee. The avenue’s house courtyards, façades and public street form the setting; the official website is the programme and booking reference.
The organiser’s published outline places illuminations, video mapping, Champagne bars, music and fireworks on Friday and Saturday evenings. Saturday’s Habits de Saveurs combines chefs and Avenue producers in demonstration tastings, with the P’tits Pâtissiers competition and paid food-and-wine workshops also listed. Sunday is the vintage-vehicle parade; the organiser says it attracts more than 500 vehicles.
Free festivities and separately booked activities
The official FAQ says avenue festivities, Habits de Saveurs, the P’tits Pâtissiers competition and the automobile parade are free without an entrance ticket. It specifically says no admission place is sold or required. House cellar tours, drinks and courtyard food are paid separately; book a cellar experience with the house itself.
The 2026 detailed programme is due in mid-November. Food-and-wine pairing workshop reservations are due to open from late November, with the precise date and method in that programme. No workshop price or timetable is published here before the organiser supplies it.
Stays, station and parking
SNCF Connect’s current Paris–Épernay route gives a fastest journey of 1 hour 19 minutes. Friday and Saturday festivities take place in the evening, so a daytime arrival is not evidence of an available late train home. Choose the return service displayed for 11 or 12 December, or book a central Épernay stay.
Épernay tourist office identifies Jard parking on rue Eugène Mercier, 150 m from its office, and Centre-Ville parking via place Hugues Plomb or boulevard du Cubry, around 700 m away. Festival traffic controls can alter access: use the event’s own practical information for the December closure plan, which was not yet verified.
Access information and official contact
Épernay’s tourist office has the Tourisme & Handicap label and lists reserved parking on rue Jean Chandon-Moët, 50 m away, and rue Jean Moët or place de la République, 100 m away. Those are the office’s access facilities, not a claim that every Habits venue has identical access.
How the December celebration developed
The first Habits de Lumière took place in December 2000. The Comité de l’Avenue de Champagne created it to celebrate the new millennium; Épernay municipality took the organisational lead in 2005 while continuing the partnership with the avenue committee. This origin explains why the festival combines a public street programme with activity inside privately owned Champagne-house courtyards.
The children’s pastry competition joined the programme in 2012. Saturday fireworks were added in 2014, giving visitors two evenings with the same main spectacle. Earlier festival themes have included the Roaring Twenties, cinema, travel, colour and Jules Verne’s machines. These are examples from the event’s history, not a list of attractions promised for December 2026.
The organising city distinguishes its illuminations and fireworks from house-run Champagne bars. Admission to the avenue does not buy a flute in a courtyard. The free public programme also includes Habits de Saveurs, the children’s pastry competition and the Sunday vehicle parade; the separately booked workshops are the exception described in the official FAQ.
A daytime appointment before the illuminations
Moët & Chandon’s visitor entrance is at 18 avenue de Champagne, the same avenue used by Habits de Lumière. The house dates its foundation to 1743 and describes 28km of cellars. Its Imperial Moment visit lasts 90 minutes and costs €48, with Moët Impérial and Rosé Impérial tastings, on the official tariff checked in October 2026.
For a longer cellar appointment, the house lists Grand Vintage at 90 minutes and €85, with white and rosé vintage wines. Its Collection experience lasts two hours at €190. These are ordinary house bookings, independent of the festival’s free public avenue programme. Select a December slot on Moët’s booking calendar before arranging a tasting around the evening lights.
Three addresses for a December overnight
Hôtel Jean Moët stands at 7 rue Jean Moët; Le 25bis by Leclerc Briant is at 25bis avenue de Champagne; La Villa Eugène is at 82–84 avenue de Champagne. These are three distinct central Épernay addresses identified by the tourist office. The two avenue properties put the overnight stay on the festival’s principal street, while Jean Moët provides a central alternative off it.
Use the property-specific booking links on our accommodation page to enter 11–13 December 2026 and the actual party size. A room search for Hautvillers or Aÿ will return a different town, adding a separate transfer after the avenue programme. Neither a Champagne-house booking nor a free festival admission includes that return journey.
Access and facilities
The organiser directs visitor enquiries to Épernay tourist office, 7 avenue de Champagne, telephone +33 3 26 53 33 00. Request the current accessible viewing, toilets and traffic-control information from that office; a street festival’s general free entry does not establish step-free access to each private courtyard.
Moët says its visitor site is five minutes from Épernay station and has lift access for wheelchair users. Contact the house about the complete reserved route if lift access is essential. Festival crowd arrangements can differ from an ordinary cellar day, so a cellar reservation should be paired with the event’s own access information.
Le 25bis by Leclerc Briant is at 25 bis avenue de Champagne, within the avenue setting. Hôtel Jean Moët is at 7 rue Jean Moët beside the town-centre end. La Villa Eugène is at 82–84 avenue de Champagne. Use the property links in our accommodation guide for availability; an avenue room does not include a cellar ticket or workshop place.
Plan your trip to Épernay
Get there
Book a tour
Select the departure point and date on the booking page. Check the meeting point, language and inclusions before paying.
Compare tours ↗We may earn a commission if you book through these links, at no extra cost to you.