Biarritz Entertainment

After a lazy day at the beach or a busier day sightseeing, youll be looking to find something to entertain yourself with in the evening; Biarritz offers a modest selection of night entertainment venues, with the atmosphere varying from sedate to lively, but falling short of wild and crazy. Restaurants, bars, casinos and discotheques constitute the main options, with a handful of other venues providing opportunities for a cultural evening out.

Nightlife

Biarritz is not really the place to head if you are looking for wild, drunken, hedonistic nights out and you wont find the mad for it crowds of other popular European beach resorts.

A night out in Biarritz generally involves dinner at one of the citys many fine restaurants, followed by some late drinking in a bar or a little cash splashing at the casino. However, this is not to say that those looking to dance the night away will find themselves at a loss, as the city is home to a number of discotheques where the music continues playing until the last punters leave, which may well be sometime around dawn. Le Casino Municipal is the place to head if you are feeling lucky and offers you the chance to play all the regular casino games until 03:00 during the week and 04.00 at weekends.

Theatre and music

Biarritz is all but bereft of traditional theatre venues, with the Thtre des Chimre and the Le Thtre du Versant providing the only options. Here visitors can view traditional and avant garde performances. Musically, the city is not especially blessed either and there are no large venues providing significant musical spectacles. Visitors looking for live music of an evening should seek out some of the smaller restaurants, where singers are often billed to provide music for diners. Alternatively, some of the big hotels have their own live entertainment agendas.

Festivals

Biarritz offers a modest selection of annual events and festivals. Visitors wanting more information about one-off events should contact the Biarritz tourist office, either by telephone on: +33 5 5922 3700, or by email at: biarritz.tourisme@biarritz.fr. Details of the citys major festivals are listed below.

• Biarritz Surf Festival is held in July every year and is a major event in the surfing scene, seeing competitors from countries such as the USA, Australia Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands assemble to take on some of the worlds best waves and battle it out for the prestigious title.
• Biarritz Dance Festival is held in Biarritz every September and is devoted to showcasing the worlds many and varied forms of dance. You can expect to see everything from ballroom to break dancing.
• The annual Andalusian Fiesta is a celebration among Biarritzs Hispanic community and sees displays of flamenco accompanied by traditional Spanish music.
• The Biarritz Casino plays host to performances that form part of the Basque Coast Music Festival. Classical music is on the agenda for this annual event, which begins at the end of August and concludes in September.