Francophonie 2026 will be celebrated during French Language and Francophonie Week, the 31st edition of which will take place during the third week of March 2026.
French Language and Francophonie Week 2026
Francophonie 2026 will be in the spotlight as part of French Language and Francophonie Week, held from March 17 to 20, 2026. At the Alliance Française de Bordeaux, this major cultural event will be highlighted through creative, educational, and artistic projects.
This event, created in 1995 by the French Ministry of Culture, aims to highlight our linguistic heritage through a variety of cultural and educational events every year. It will therefore offer a wide range of activities to celebrate the richness of the French language and Francophone cultures during Francophonie Week 2026.
International Francophonie Day at the Alliance Française
At the Alliance Française de Bordeaux, Francophonie 2026 is practiced on an ongoing basis through French language courses as well as cultural activities offered by our institution.
On the occasion of International Francophonie Day 2026, celebrated on Friday 20 March, teachers wanted to reinforce this momentum by offering their students several new educational projects. Quizzes and interclass games about the French-speaking world will be offered as part of intensive French courses.
One class will also create an exhibition on languages and intercultural diversity, which will be displayed at the Alliance’s premises and inaugurated on the day of the event. To conclude this special day, the Alliance Française team will host a convivial drinks reception to celebrate Francophonie 2026.
‘Tell Me Ten Words of a World to Come’: A Contest at the Heart of Francophonie 2026
For more than ten years, the Alliance Française de Bordeaux has been actively involved in French Language and Francophonie Week, in collaboration with the Departmental Directorate of National Education Services, through the organization of the poetry contest ‘Tell Me Ten Words’. This cultural initiative is fully part of the activities organized around Francophonie 2026, highlighting the linguistic creativity and artistic expression of young participants.
Each year, budding poets are invited to create a literary or artistic work incorporating ten given words, as part of the ‘Tell Me Ten Words’ contest. This exercise encourages creative freedom while guiding participants to follow a precise linguistic framework, thereby promoting learning and expression in the French language.
For Francophonie 2026, the chosen theme highlights a world to come. The creations must therefore include the following words: land on the moon, dystopian, humanoid, theory, transmute, program, continuum, particle, anticipation, and sidereal.
The competition is aimed at elementary school pupils in the Bordeaux region.
The 2026 edition of the contest will mark the 16th year of this collaboration, with an increasing number of participants and submissions each year.
On this occasion, the winners will be honored at a ceremony to be held on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at the Athénée Joseph Wresinski. During the event, actors will bring the winning poems to life.
French Language and Francophonie Week 2026: A Call for Creativity and Engagement
Whether you are passionate about poetry or simply curious to discover a unique cultural event, the ‘Tell Me Ten Words’ contest invites you to explore the richness of the French language while raising awareness about the challenges of a world to come.
Learning French and Francophone culture can be further enriched at the Alliance Française de Bordeaux, where, in addition to language courses, a wide range of cultural activities around Bordeaux is offered to provide even more opportunities to practice the language.
Would you like to improve your French during French Language and Francophonie Week 2026? Please contact us by email at contact@alliance-bordeaux.org!
