Le blog touristique du bassin minier
📅 Sunday 6 September 2026
📍 Lens
Festi’Lens Retro returns to liven up the city of Lens! On the programme: vintage atmosphere, music, entertainment and conviviality in the streets of Lens.
A festive event celebrating the cultural identity of Lens and its heritage, between mining memory and contemporary dynamism. Not to be missed for fans of retro atmosphere and local festivities.
Source : https://tourisme-lens.fr/sortir/les-evenements/
📅 22 and 23 August 2026
📍 Lens, city centre
For its first edition, the City of Lens and the SPOT 13 association join forces to create Graff In Lens, an event dedicated to street art and graffiti.
Local and national artists will take over the walls of Lens for live creations, participatory workshops and demonstrations. A free event celebrating urban art in a city shaped by mining history and cultural renewal.
Source : https://tourisme-lens.fr/sortir/les-evenements/
📅 From 29 March to 31 December 2026
📍 Louvre-Lens, 99 Rue Valentin Looi, 62300 Lens
From the Louvre-Lens reception hall, a staircase leads to the museum’s behind-the-scenes areas. The visible storage is a unique space where works are presented thematically, outside the usual display paths.
It’s an exceptional opportunity to see how a museum conserves, studies and exhibits its collections. Paintings, sculptures, art objects: the reserves offer an unprecedented look at the richness of the Louvre’s collections.
A visit that changes perspective — here, you don’t just look at the works, you also understand the invisible work that makes it possible to present them to the public.
Practical info: Included in the Louvre-Lens visit. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm.
📅 From 5 June to 26 August 2026
📍 Louvre-Lens, 99 Rue Valentin Looi, 62300 Lens
This video and photography exhibition, conceived by choreographer Sarah Nouveau, explores the links between art and landscape. Land Art — art that uses nature as its canvas and material — takes on a sensitive and contemporary dimension here.
Video and photographic works invite you to rediscover the landscape, to see nature as a space of creation and contemplation. The exhibition resonates particularly in the mining basin, where slag heaps and reclaimed landscapes have become works of art in their own right.
An invitation to look differently at the territory around us — a territory transformed by human hands and then returned to nature.
Practical info: Included in the Louvre-Lens visit. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm. Closed on Mondays.
📅 From 2 May to 30 August 2026
📍 Louvre-Lens, 99 Rue Valentin Looi, 62300 Lens
The exhibition “Silence After Impact. War Ruins Photography” explores the photography of war ruins, from the First World War to the present day. Through a poignant visual journey, discover how photographers have captured the silence of landscapes devastated by conflict.
From bombed-out Picardy to contemporary ruins, this exhibition questions our relationship with the memory of destroyed places. The images, often silent and striking, confront us with the aftermath — when the din of weapons has ceased and only the visual echo of destruction remains.
A powerful reflection on war, memory and landscape, in a museum itself located in the heart of the mining basin, a territory marked by conflict.
Practical info: Entry to the temporary exhibition pavilion. Check times and prices on the Louvre-Lens website.
📅 From May 2 to August 30, 2026
📍 Musée du Louvre-Lens, Lens
The exhibition “Silence After Impact” questions war ruin photography, from the First World War to contemporary conflicts. Through a powerful and moving photographic journey, it examines our relationship with the memory of destroyed places and the visual trace of conflict.
The photographs presented cover a century of history, from 14-18 battlefields to contemporary ruins. In a territory scarred by war, this exhibition resonates in a particularly meaningful way.
The Louvre-Lens hosts this exhibition in a setting that invites reflection and contemplation. An essential visit to understand how the photographic image shapes our relationship with the past and with destruction.
Source: [Lens Tourist Office](https://tourisme-lens.fr/sortir/les-evenements/)
📅 From June 5 to August 26, 2026
📍 Musée du Louvre-Lens, Lens
This video and photographic exhibition, conceived by choreographer Sarah Nouveau, explores the links between contemporary art and landscape. Through monumental works and immersive installations, “Land Art, Mon Amour!” invites us to rediscover nature as the raw material of artistic creation.
The Louvre-Lens hosts this summer exhibition in its contemporary art spaces. An immersion into a universe where earth, rocks, plants and natural elements become the mediums of visionary artists.
A visit that breaks from traditional exhibitions and resonates particularly in the mining basin, a territory transformed by human hands and returned to nature.
Source: [Lens Tourist Office](https://tourisme-lens.fr/sortir/les-evenements/)
📅 Thursday, July 10, 2026
📍 9-9bis, Oignies
Have you ever heard of Henriette De Clercq? Long before women could vote, this local figure left her mark on the history of the mining basin through her commitment and generosity.
This apero-meeting invites you to discover the exceptional journey of Henriette De Clercq, benefactress of the territory. On the program: a convivial moment over a drink, followed by an enriching presentation about this remarkable woman who meant so much to the mining basin.
A perfect evening to learn while having fun, between heritage and conviviality. Free entry — come curious and leave enriched!
Source: [Lens Tourist Office](https://tourisme-lens.fr/sortir/les-evenements/)