The 2026 Suzhou Jinji Lake China-France Culture and Art Week kicked off at Ligongdi Cultural and Creative Block in Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) on October 10. As a flagship event of the 2026 Golden Autumn · Three Lakes Carnival, this year’s art week will run through October 19. It presents nearly 20 themed activities including artistic performances, art exhibitions, literary readings, film screenings, and gourmet festivals, offering local residents and visitors a Sino-French cultural feast.
Since its debut in 2022, the Suzhou Jinji Lake China-France Culture and Art Week has been successfully held for four consecutive editions, having hosted a series of distinctive exchange events such as the “Rencontre avec Montmartre” exhibition, check-in events at the Sino-French Love Wall, the “More than Versailles” exhibition, and dialogues between Chinese and French museums.
The symphony concert “SI YEOU KI” was staged at 19:30 on October 10 at the Grand Theater of the Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre as the opening performance of this year’s art week. Composed and conducted by Laurent Petitgirard, Perpetual Secretary of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of France, the work ingeniously combines the techniques of Western symphonic music with the cultural core of a classic Chinese myth. It is a key annual China-France exchange project of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
As the grand finale, the French musical “La Dame aux Camélias” will have its world premiere at 19:30 on October 18 at the Grand Theatre of the Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre. The production brings together a veteran French creative team, a director honored with the French Critics’ Award, the stage design team behind the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, and a host of powerful vocalists.
In addition to premium stage performances, the art week features a host of immersive cultural experiences. A 12-metre-long scroll jointly created by artists and students from multiple countries is on display, depicting six representative landmarks of Paris and six of Suzhou. The “Long Line Long View” Contemporary Fiber Art Exhibition will remain open until February 21, 2027 at the Jinji Lake Art Museum, showcasing fiber artworks by more than 50 artists from China, France, Germany, Sweden and South Korea. The 5th French Literature Reading Week will be held across urban venues including Jinji Lake stations, the lakeside plaza of the Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre, libraries, bookstores and citizen service centers, presenting nearly 20 themed activities.
The China-France Gourmet Week and the Suzhou Coffee Festival take place simultaneously at the Ligongdi Cultural and Creative Block. The coffee festival gathers over 100 coffee brands as well as around 20 champion-level baristas and more than 100 outstanding baristas. Supporting activities include brewing demonstrations, lakeside live music and a “Coffee Flavor Map” stamp rally, helping create a new urban lifestyle of “coffee + cultural tourism + commerce”.
