Route du Rhum 2026: nightlife, concerts and bars in Saint-Malo

During the thirteen days of the Route du Rhum race village, Saint-Malo does not go to bed at 8 pm. The stands close, but the village bars stay open until 1 am, the ramparts light up, and for the first time an OFF du Rhum fringe programme carries the party into the bars and neighbourhoods. This page gathers what is on in the evenings, from 20 October to 1 November 2026.

Storm Austen, Friday 23 October. The village is closed to the public all day, its bars and the Brasserie du Rhum included, and all of the day’s events are cancelled. The organisers will announce the reopening time. As of 8 am on 23 October, Friday’s fringe nights are neither confirmed nor cancelled: check with the venues.

Our information comes from three kinds of source, and we say which each time: the official programme (the city of Saint-Malo and the race organisers), announcements by the venues themselves on their social media, and the local press. Programmes were checked on 15 October and re-checked on the 20th, opening day; they may still change: check on the day on routedurhum.com or the city’s website.

Every evening at the village: the light ritual

Three free events come round every evening, according to the city’s programme:

• 6 pm: illumination of the Vauban and Duguay-Trouin docks, with the race boats moored alongside.
• 7 pm: projection mapping “400 years of the French Navy”, in the Jardin de la Légion d’honneur. It is put on by the city and Ouest-France.
• 8:30 pm: sound and light show on the Porte Saint-Vincent, about twenty minutes long.

Before that, the Main Stage on the Esplanade Saint-Vincent, a circular stage ringed with screens, hosts a concert around 4 pm, mostly Breton and Saint-Malo bands (Quic-en-Groigne, Diatomalo, Les Pouss’Pieds, the Malouiners…), followed by the Route du Rhum Journal from 5:30 to 6:30 pm, with skippers on stage.

The stands close at 8 pm, or 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. The late opening until 1 am covers only the village’s food outlets and bars. No fireworks have been announced as of 20 October.

Evenings to mark in your diary

Date	Event	Where
Tue 20 Oct	Opening: bagpipe band at the Brasserie du Rhum at 6 pm, live music until 12:30 am	Village
Wed 21 Oct	Official inauguration, 6–7 pm	Main Stage
Sat 24 Oct	Guadeloupe Islands carnival, 7–8 pm	Main Stage
Sun 25 Oct	Skippers’ presentation, from 5 pm	Main Stage
Thu 29 Oct	Guadeloupe Islands “Zouk” stage, 7–8 pm	Main Stage
Fri 30 Oct	Ultims leave through the locks, at 6:51, 7:51 and 8:51 pm	Naye lock
Sat 31 Oct	Bagad Quic-en-Groigne at 4 pm; Ocean Fifty (6:42 pm) and IMOCA (7:42 pm) lock departures	Main Stage, locks
Sun 1 Nov	“Closing Party”, 3–10 pm	Place Brevet (fringe)

Source: the city and organisers’ programme. In early October, Le Télégramme, a media partner of the race, announced a “closing concert” on 31 October at 7 pm and a carnival on 23 October: neither appears in the city’s programme as of 20 October, so we have left them out. The skippers’ presentation is announced for 5 pm by the organisers, and by France 3 and Ouest-France, both media partners; the city still says “time to be confirmed”.

The evening lock departures are a real spectacle, free, with grandstands at the Naye lock. Times are indicative and weather-dependent: details on the race village page.

Saturday 31 October is also Halloween, the night before the start: the busiest evening of the fortnight. In 2022, the prefecture banned takeaway alcohol sales from 6 pm on 31 October to midnight on 1 November. As of 20 October, no such order had been published for 2026, by either the prefecture or the city, but the precedent exists.

The Brasserie du Rhum, the evening HQ

At the heart of the village, the Brasserie du Rhum is run by Maison Hector, the family that also runs the Café de l’Ouest and the Lion d’Or on Place Chateaubriand. It is open every day from 10 am to 1 am, with music every evening. According to the venue, it covers 1,600 m², seats around 1,000, and puts on a live act every evening at 8:30 pm. Concerts are free and entry is open; tables can be booked on +33 2 99 56 05 13.

The line-up published by the organisers, as of 15 October:

Date	At the Brasserie du Rhum
Tue 20 Oct	Bagad Quic-en-Groigne (6 pm), Corsaire Malouin (7 pm), Mask Ha Gazh (8 pm), Tekmao (10:30 pm)
Wed 21 Oct	Lady Yema (8:30 pm), DJ Yepper (10 pm)
Thu 22 Oct	Pao Bran (6 pm), Lady Yema (10 pm)
Fri 23 Oct	DJ Rubens (8:30 pm), Maracujah (10:30 pm)
Sat 24 Oct	“La Folie Douce in Saint-Malo” party, 6 pm – 12:30 am
Tue 27 Oct	Les Gaillards d’en face (8 pm), DJ Yepper with saxophone (10:15 pm)

Other dates are announced by the venues and artists themselves, not listed by the organisers:

• Monday 26 October: cabaret night with Madame Simone at the Brasserie du Rhum, time not given (Brasserie announcement).
• Thursday 29 October: Breton band Les Ramoneurs de Menhirs at the Comptoir du Rhum, the village’s other bar, on Quai Duguay-Trouin. It is a free concert, with Oiseaux Badin and several DJs (band’s website). The band gives no time; a fan club says 9 pm.
• Saturday 31 October: Noble Sauvage at 10:30 pm at the Brasserie (artist’s announcement).
• 22 to 31 October: Saint-Malo band Pao Bran announces several dates between the Brasserie du Rhum and the Bar de l’Univers, without a detailed schedule.

In the village, drinks come in deposit glasses or reusable cups; disposable cups are banned by the exhibitors’ charter.

The OFF du Rhum: nights out in the bars

The OFF du Rhum is the big novelty of 2026. It is run by the city, Saint-Malo Agglomération and the Brittany Region: concerts, parties, tastings and talks outside the village. The full programme, filterable by day, and the interactive map are on routedurhum.com, under programmation. Here is a selection of bar nights from that official programme:

Date	Venue	Event
Tue 20 Oct	Le 109 (3 rue des Cordiers, Intra-Muros)	“French West Indies” with DJ Chelmi, 10:30 pm – 6 am
Wed 21 Oct	La Corniche (Chaussée du Sillon)	“Ti-Lo: Brittany meets Guadeloupe”, 7 pm – 1 am
Thu 22 Oct	Place Brevet (Intra-Muros)	Rum tasting, 5–10 pm
Fri 23 Oct	La Corniche	Night with Maison Longueteau, a Guadeloupe rum distillery, 7–11 pm
Fri 23 Oct	La Calypso (21 rue de Dinan, Intra-Muros)	Route du Rhum night, 7 pm
Fri 23 Oct	Le Bercail (Boulevard Chateaubriand, Rochebonne)	“The Fake Skippers’ Ball”, 7:30 pm
Sat 24 Oct	Place de la Poissonnerie (Intra-Muros)	Celtic night, 5–7 pm
Sun 25 Oct	Le 109	“French West Indies” with Roots Gilder, 10:30 pm – 6 am
Tue 27 Oct	La Terrasse Brevet	“FWI sound aperitif”, 5–10 pm
Tue 27 Oct	La Corniche	“Yacht Club night”, 7 pm – 1 am
Tue 27 Oct	Le Bercail	“Rochebonne Airlines: direct flight to Guadeloupe”, 7:30 pm
Thu 29 Oct	Place de la Poissonnerie	Creole night, 5–7 pm
Thu 29 Oct	La Calypso	Concert, 7 pm
Thu 29 Oct	Le Bercail	Meet skipper Fabrice Amedeo, 7:30 pm

The fringe programme also has piano-bar evenings on 24 and 31 October at the Grand Hôtel de Courtoisville in Paramé, and stand-up comedy at Jim Carré, Rue Sainte-Marguerite, almost every evening at 8:45 pm (in French). On the cultural side, there are sailing film screenings: the MerConcept festival at the Théâtre Chateaubriand on 22 October, and the Sailorz Film Festival at the Palais du Grand Large on the 29th.

The official programme does not give the full picture of the bars. Several venues announce their own nights, not listed by the organisers:

• Le Croiseur Ginette, Place de la Poissonnerie: Celtic night on 24 October with Tapagwen; Guadeloupe night on 29 October with rum tasting, accras and a DJ. Booking advised, says the bar.
• La Trinquette, Quai Bajoyer: announces live music every evening from 20 to 31 October, with no detailed line-up published.
• La Carlingue, 45 Quai Duguay-Trouin, opposite the village: pop-up bar open daily from 8 am to midnight from 20 October to 1 November, with a DJ launch night on 20 October from 6 pm to midnight.
• La Cave d’Aleth, in Saint-Servan: open every day from 20 October to 1 November, with tastings, masterclasses (sign-up required) and late openings around French Caribbean rums. Closing party on 31 October.

The traditional Rhum bars

They have no official programme, but the atmosphere is there every time.

Place Chateaubriand, just inside the Porte Saint-Vincent, a stone’s throw from the village. The Bar de l’Univers, the former yacht club headquarters, presents itself as the sailors’ traditional meeting place for the Route du Rhum and the Québec–Saint-Malo race, and Ouest-France has called it “the bar of legends”. In 2022 it had live music every evening. For 2026, it has published no programme; Saint-Malo band Pao Bran says it will play there between 22 and 31 October.

Rue Jacques-Cartier, along the ramparts on the harbour side, is Intra-Muros’s bar street: it was packed until closing time in 2022.

A note for regulars: the Cunningham’s, at Les Bas-Sablons, has been closed since November 2024 under a building safety order, according to the local press. It is not expected to reopen for the Rhum.

Dinard, the Balcon du Rhum

Across the estuary, Dinard joins the fringe with the Balcon du Rhum, at the Palais des Arts, from 28 October to 1 November. The programme is mainly cultural and daytime: a round table with skippers on 29 October at 6 pm, a talk on the 31st at 6 pm, then on 1 November a brass band, a tasting of French Caribbean produce and a screening of the start. No evening party has been announced there.

Getting back after the party

This is the constraint to plan for. The park-and-ride shuttles stop at 11 pm, while the village bars close at 1 am. After 11 pm, you are left with the reinforced bus network (line 1 until 2 am, lines 2 and 3 until 1:30 am) or a taxi, scarce on those nights. By train, the organisers announce departures from Saint-Malo until 11:30 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Full details are on the getting there and parking page. The simplest solution is still to stay in Intra-Muros or within walking distance, in Saint-Servan or on the Sillon. For dinner before going out, see where to eat in Saint-Malo: during the Rhum, book ahead.