Fête de la Truffe

Each mid-January, the medieval town of Sarlat-la-Canéda in the Dordogne becomes the centre of France's truffle world for the Fête de la Truffe, a long weekend dedicated to the black Périgord truffle, Tuber melanosporum. Harvested between December and March, the black truffle is one of French gastronomy's most prized delicacies, and Sarlat's honey-coloured medieval streets provide a genuinely atmospheric setting for its celebration.

Festival events centre on tastings and cooking classes led by local chefs, alongside workshops teaching visitors how to identify and hunt the elusive fungus themselves — a skill traditionally passed down through generations of Périgord families, often working with specially trained dogs. A citywide market fills Sarlat's squares with truffle vendors, wine tastings and other regional produce, giving the whole town over to the delicacy for the weekend.

Given the black Périgord truffle's reputation as one of the most expensive ingredients in French cooking, Sarlat's festival offers a rare chance to engage directly with the hunters, growers and chefs who work with it — a genuinely hands-on introduction to a product that, for most people, only ever appears shaved sparingly over a finished dish.