Culture in the Var

The Var: A remarkably diverse collection of museums.

With nearly 80 museums, the Var boasts a museum offering of rare diversity. From Roman antiquity to contemporary art, from maritime history to life in the bauxite and copper mines, from scuba diving to popular arts and traditions, their collections trace the history of the Var, this land between Provence and the Côte d'Azur. Don't hesitate to cross their thresholds — they are full of treasures, both great and small, that are absolutely worth discovering.

Museums of France

• Bormes-les-Mimosas: Museum of Art and History
• Brignoles: Musée du Pays Brignolais
• Draguignan: Artillery Museum, Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions, Museum of Art and History
• Fréjus: Municipal Museum of Archaeology and Museum of Marine Troops
• La Garde: Musée Jean Aicard - Paulin Bertrand
• Saint-Raphaël: Municipal Museum of Archaeology
• Saint-Tropez: Musée de l'Annonciade
• Solliès-Ville: Museum of Provençal Clothing
• Toulon: National Navy Museum, Art Museum, Asian Arts Museum and Natural History Museum

Must-see monuments

• La Celle: Abbaye de La Celle
• Collobrières: Chartreuse de La Verne
• Fréjus: ancient ruins and episcopal complex
• Saint-Maximin-La-Sainte-Baume: Basilica and Royal Convent
• Saint-Tropez: Citadel and Maritime History Museum
• Le Thoronet: Abbaye du Thoronet
• Toulon: Toulon Cathedral

Festivals and events

• Les Médiévales: every summer in Brignoles
• Ramatuelle Theatre Festival, founded by Jean-Claude Brialy
• Festival Les Voix du Gaou in Six-Fours-les-Plages
• Television Festival and Piano Festival of Saint-Tropez
• Comic Strip Festival of Roquebrune-sur-Argens
• Comic Strip Festival of Solliès-Ville
• In Situ Theatre Festival of Carqueiranne
• International Piano Festival Musique à la Cour (Solliès-Pont) in August
• "La Pastorale de Tourtour", a staging of Yvan Audouard's text "La Pastorale des santons de Provence", performed and sung by the inhabitants of Tourtour
• The Olive Tree Festival in Ollioules, first weekend of October
• World Music Festival in Néoules 83136, association Chemins Pluriels
• The Fête de Saint Hermentaire (or Corso Fleuri) in Draguignan: every year to celebrate the victory of the battle between Saint Hermentaire and the Dragon, the city organises the Corso Fleuri at the end of May. The Corso Fleuri is a parade of floats decorated with paper flowers, held in the afternoon (around 4pm) or in the evening (around 8pm, followed by fireworks). During the Corso period, the town organises a funfair lasting one week.