Celebrations last for a whole year
In 2027, Normandy marks 1000 years since the birth of William the Conqueror — known in France as Guillaume le Conquérant — in Falaise, and the region is celebrating with Millenium: a year-long cultural and tourism event. Normandy is not only looking inward in the coming year, it is definitely looking out into the world as well. And even those of you who are not looking for a long history lesson while you're on holiday may still be interested by this one.
The celebrations are already underway, kicked off by a historic loan: the Bayeux Tapestry, the nearly 70-metre medieval embroidery telling the story of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, is currently on exhibit at the British Museum — its first time on display outside France in almost a thousand years. It can be seen there through July 11, 2027, while its usual home, the Bayeux Museum in Normandy, undergoes renovation ahead of reopening that autumn.
William's own story starts further north than Normandy. He was a descendant of Rollo, the Viking leader who was granted the territory that became Normandy by the French king in 911. Rollo's exact origins have long been disputed by historians, but Norwegian and Icelandic sagas identify him with Gange-Rolf — Hrólfr the Walker, said to be so large no horse could carry him — a chieftain's son from Møre, western Norway, who fell out with King Harald Fairhair before making his way to France.
The Millenium year of celebration reaches well beyond Normandy's borders, tracing that Norman-Viking legacy across the territories it touched: England, Ireland, the Channel Islands, Flanders, and southern Italy and Sicily, where Norman dynasties also took hold.
A few of the year's first events are already underway or on the calendar:
- The Bayeux Tapestry exhibition at the British Museum, open since September 10, 2026.
- In Sicily, the Festino di Palermo in July 2026 kicked off the celebrations with a nod to Normandy's medieval presence in southern Italy.
- The Tournée Millenium 2026, a preview tour ahead of the main event year, wraps up with **FÊNO in Caen**, October 16–18, 2026.
The full calendar is still taking shape — you can follow along on Normandy's official Millenium site, as more events are added through 2027. Given the scale of what's planned, this is shaping up to be one of the more significant regional anniversaries Europe will see this decade.
