Champs-Élysées Christmas lights 2026: Cate Blanchett switches on the avenue on 22 November

The Champs-Élysées Christmas lights go on on Sunday 22 November 2026 and stay up until 3 January 2027, along the avenue between place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe, in the 8th arrondissement. The Comité Champs-Élysées, which runs them, gave the programme at a press conference on 28 October.

On the evening of 22 November the whole avenue is closed to traffic. Cate Blanchett is this year's godmother and the French band Feu! Chatterton plays. The sound and light show follows Vivaldi's Four Seasons as reworked by Max Richter, according to the press release quoted by the EFE news agency. Sortir à Paris gives a 7:30pm start: it is the only source for that time, so check again the day before.

The organisers announce 400 trees, 2 million LEDs and 52 km of light strings. The trees animate on the hour, with more sequences every quarter of an hour. 24, 25 and 31 December have a special programme, not detailed yet.

The Champs-Élysées Christmas market reopens the same day after nearly ten years away, with 200 chalets announced, so you can do both.

Getting there: free, no booking, lit every day from 5pm to 1am. Metro Champs-Élysées-Clemenceau (lines 1, 13), Franklin D. Roosevelt (lines 1, 9), George V (line 1) or Charles de Gaulle-Étoile (lines 1, 2, 6).