French May and French GourMay are set to return to Hong Kong for another packed spring-summer season, with organizers unveiling the 2026 lineup at the Mandarin Oriental on April 15.
Running from April to July, this year’s edition will feature more than 100 programs spanning art, music, dance, theater, immersive experiences, circus, cinema, gastronomy, and sports, continuing a festival history that stretches back to 1993.
Organizers say the twin festivals have drawn more than 400,000 visitors a year over the past three decades, reinforcing their place in Hong Kong’s cultural calendar.
This year’s French May comes under the theme Re/naissance, with a program that leans into both heritage and newer formats.
Screenshot via Hong Kong Heritage Museum Website
The headline art event is The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Meet Mona Lisa & Portraying the Renaissance, opening from May 1 to July 27 at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in Sha Tin.
The exhibition combines immersive digital technology created for Hong Kong by the Musée du Louvre and Grand Palais Immersif with Renaissance works from major European collections, offering a fresh route into one of the world’s most familiar images.
Another major draw is DJ Snake Live in Hong Kong, set for May 8 at Central Harbourfront Event Space. The concert will also feature Higher Brothers, DJ Wordy, and opening guests DJ Fabsabs and DJ Steffunn from Cantomania, bringing a bigger open-air music moment to the festival alongside its more traditional cultural programming.
Tickets range from HK$680 to HK$1,880, with sales listed through platforms including Cityline, Trip.com, Ctrip, Ticketflap, and Damai.
Beyond the two biggest crowd-pullers, the wider arts lineup stretches across jazz, classical music, opera, dance, theater, circus, and film.
Programs this year include Youn Sun Nah feat. Bojan Z, Bizet’s Carmen, VOÛTE, Yekwon Sunwoo with Quatuor Elmire, In Between – Wu Guanzhong’s Ink Odessey, The Sutherland Test, Alliance Cosmique, and the French May Cinema Programme.
This year’s lineup turns the festival into a citywide cultural program spanning music, performance, film, and visual art.
The food and wine side returns too.
French GourMay, now in its 17th edition, turns to Savoie this year under the theme Beyond the Map, spotlighting the French Alpine region’s wines and culinary identity through a network of more than 150 partner restaurants, retailers, and learning centers across Hong Kong and Macao.
Chef Richard Ekkebus of Amber and Mandarin Oriental The Landmark joins as chef ambassador, while partner venues will roll out special menus, pairings, workshops, and tastings built around the region.
There is also a stronger lifestyle and discovery layer to this year’s gourmet programming.
French GourMay will launch an OpenRice Taste Guide so users can browse participating venues and Savoie-themed content in one place, with Rice Dollars offered on selected bookings.
The popular French GourMay Markets will return to Central Market from April 30 to May 3 and Food Parc from May 28 to 31, bringing wines, cheeses, gourmet products, tastings, and live cooking demos into the mix.
Taken together, French May 2026 is dynamic, accessible and expansive.
From the immersive Meet Mona Lisa & Portraying the Renaissance exhibition to DJ Snake on the harbourfront, a Savoie-led gourmet program, and music appearances by Korean artists Youn Sun Nah and Yekwon Sunwoo, and free circus programming that opens the festival to families and wider audiences.
This year’s edition opens the festival out across disciplines, generations, and audiences while keeping cross-cultural exchange at its core.
[All images courtesy of French May]
