Come along to the Science Village on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October

The theme of the 2026 Science Festival is ‘Savoury Science’, an opportunity to explore the links between science and food: taste, chemistry, biology, innovation, history, the environment… A whole range of disciplines that help us understand what we eat and why.

At this unmissable event to mark the start of the new academic year, thousands of scientists, teachers, research staff, science communicators and librarians share their knowledge and enthusiasm for science, technology and innovation with the public.

In Saumur, the Village des sciences takes place on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October and will offer a programme of activities, experiments and talks organised around three main themes: Nature and the Environment, Flavours, Cooking and Food, and Digital Technology and Discoveries.

As part of this programme, the Château-Musée de Saumur and the Jacques Percereau Community Centre are jointly running a workshop offering an insight into some of the culinary practices of the Middle Ages.

THE ART OF COOKING IN THE MIDDLE AGES

RECIPES, CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS AT THE COURT OF LOUIS I, DUKE OF ANJOU

From the spectacular, even fanciful, recipe for ‘Coq en armure’ (a rooster in armour riding a pig) to sound dietary practices, such as eating fruit as an aperitif to aid digestion, visitors will discover customs and practices that are sometimes amusing, sometimes effective. In the Middle Ages, food was often accompanied by superstitions, but it was also associated with therapeutic properties which, in terms of their cause-and-effect relationship with the body, bordered on biology and chemistry!

A series of fun challenges is organised by the cultural guides at the Château-Musée, and a cookery and tasting workshop is run by member families of the Jacques Percereau Social and Cultural Centre.

The workshop ‘The Art of Cooking in the Middle Ages – Recipes, Customs and Beliefs at the Court of Louis I, Duke of Anjou’ has been awarded the ‘Coup de Cœur’ label for the 2026 programme by the Certification Committee of the Fête de la Science in the Pays de la Loire region!

The Château-Musée de Saumur responded to the call for projects for the 2026 Fête de la Science, launched by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space.

In the Pays de la Loire region, the event is led by the Regional Academic Delegation for Research and Innovation (DRARI) and the Pays de la Loire Regional Council, and coordinated by the Terre des Sciences association. The Science Festival Accreditation Committee for the Pays de la Loire region, comprising these organisations, met on Tuesday 9 June to review the projects and select the favourites.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION