From "Faire Fort!" on April 18 to the Music Festival in June, including Marsatac, Basses Fréquences and Makeda: Fort Saint-Nicolas comes alive until autumn!
185,000 visitors in 2025, 20 events produced, three artistic residencies totaling 19 months of presence on site: the Citadel of Marseille enters its third cultural season with solid foundations and a strong theme.
In 2026 and 2027, Fort Saint-Nicolas will explore the thread of 'Resistances' - that of the built environment against time, of men against oppression, of nature against human uses, and of social ties against isolation.
For Mathilde Rubinstein, Deputy Director of the Citadel, the success of the place is primarily due to a collective dynamic:
"What connects us all? The ability to do things together: to ensure the progressive restoration of the built heritage together, to inhabit and bring the available spaces to life together, to dream together about the next projects and uses of the site."
A vision that has managed to unite well beyond the walls of the fort. Professional artists, researchers, heritage restoration actors, associative partners and neighbors have been contributing to the project from the beginning, making the Citadel, according to its director, much more than a Historical Monument:
"a place of sharing, life, cross-experiments, sometimes unexpected encounters, and scientific and sensitive discoveries."
This dynamic is also reflected in the numbers: since its opening in May 2024, 385,000 visitors - both locals and international - have entered the site. A grounding in the city that Mathilde Rubinstein summarizes simply: "The Citadel is no longer just a Historical Monument: it is a space where all generations, including the youngest, feel good."
A season marked by the theme of 'Resistances'
The theme is not chosen at random. Fort Saint-Nicolas has been a place of imprisonment that has seen great figures of national and international resistance pass through. For twenty years, it has hosted an integration project led by the associations ACTA VISTA and BAO Formation, which support nearly 400 vulnerable Marseillais each year in the trades of ancient building. Its fauna and flora resist human uses. And the conviviality that unfolds there constitutes, in itself, a form of resistance to withdrawal and isolation.
This common theme for 2026 and 2027 allows for the deployment of long-term projects, closely linked to the built, memorial, and natural heritage of the site.
Faire Fort! - Saturday, April 18, 2 PM - 7 PM
The season opens during the school holidays with a popular and festive event designed for families. Carte blanche to cultural partners and accomplice collectives, Faire Fort! transforms bastions, glacis, guard towers, and demi-lunes into scenes of discovery.
On the program:
- Li(e)n - aerial acrobatics and linen sculpture show with Cie Appesa, at 3:30 PM and 5:30 PM
- Go back into the shadows! You shall not pass! - continuous performance by the Chuglu group, from 2 PM to 7 PM
- The amazing properties - solo of augmented guitar by Benjamin Dupé, at 2:30 PM and 4:30 PM
- Uchronies - collective exhibition with Fanny S. Sow, Elsa Martinez, Marie Hervé, and Valentin Vert
- Special kids' dancefloor by the Basses Fréquences festival, from 3 PM to 6 PM
- Flash visits of the site at 2:30 PM, 4:30 PM, and 6:15 PM
Price: €6 - free for under 10s. From 6 years old. The Guinguette du Fort provides light meals and drinks with a view of the harbor.
©ISIS MECHERAF
Marsatac at the Citadel - Saturday, May 2
As part of the Off of Marsatac, the Cour Demi-Lune of Fort Saint-Nicolas hosts an engaged and independent date. Apéro-mix, sunset panorama, and today's music in a place steeped in history: a vibrant evening between the ramparts.
Opening weekend of the Mediterranean Season - May 16 and 17, free entry
Labeled Mediterranean Season by the Institut Français, the project Resistances and Disobediences takes as its starting point the imprisonment at the Citadel between 1939 and 1942 of Habib Bourguiba, Tunisian independence leader and future president of the Tunisian Republic. Two artists - Saber Zammouri, hosted in Marseille, and Hugo Mir-Valette, hosted in Tunis at B7L9 - explore this shared Franco-Tunisian history through digital media and archival work.
The opening weekend (Saturday 2 PM - 9 PM, Sunday 2 PM - 7 PM) will also present Marine Worlds, a multidisciplinary research program by the Camargo Foundation dedicated to Mediterranean marine ecologies, with five artists in residence from February to October 2026. The produced works will remain accessible through guided tours until the end of October, before being presented at the Chroniques Biennale and the JAOU Biennale in Tunis.
Basses Fréquences x Citadel - Saturday, May 30
Return of the Basses Fréquences festival to the gardens of the Citadel for an open air facing the sea. Two stages, panoramic sunset over the Old Port, selection of local artists, and Mediterranean food offerings. And at the beginning of the day, a free dancefloor for children: Discokidz from 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM, before the open air ticketed event from 6 PM to 11:30 PM.
Garden Rendez-vous - Saturday, June 6, free entry
For this national day, the Citadel offers workshops and awareness stands in partnership with the League for the Protection of Birds, the Population Environment Development Laboratory of Aix-Marseille University, the shared garden Bancaù de Silvete, and the ISSU association. An opportunity to discover the unique biodiversity that has developed in the 5 hectares of the fort.Discover
Music Festival - Sunday, June 21, 4 PM - 10:30 PM
Fifth edition of an event that has become essential at the Citadel. Klezmer, songs, traditional and electronic music blend to celebrate musical diversity: choirs from the Pierre Barbizet Conservatory, Trio Houblon, Maison du Chant, Klezmer Ball by Léa Platini, and DJ set by Sea Side Department SSD.
DJing workshop with Carlala and Marsatac upon registration.
©ISIS MECHERAF
The Makeda settles in the Citadel - July
For three exceptional evenings (Fridays July 3, 16, and 30), the Marseille venue Makeda will take over Fort Saint-Nicolas with its bold and eclectic programming. Heritage, spectacular panorama, and live performances: the program will be unveiled soon.
More info to come
An ongoing artistic residency: Benjamin Dupé
Composer, guitarist, and director, Benjamin Dupé settles at the Citadel for the period 2026-2029.
His continuous presence on site will give rise to monthly meetings open to the public under the title Secret Passages: residency outputs, work stages, previews, and participatory laboratories within the heritage framework of the fort.
By reservation with the company - next dates: April 28 and 29, May 26 and 27, June 23 and 24, 2026.
©Grégory Forestier
Permanent visits and workshops
Every weekend and during school holidays, the Citadel offers its must-sees: historical and heritage visit, small escape game for 8 - 12 year olds and their parents, day of initiation to stone sculpture with a professional stone carver.
Two new features for 2026 enrich the offer: the Fauna and Flora visit, a walk to discover the biodiversity of the fort, and the Sound Walk - The Round of Times, three audio fictions on headphones written by Valérie Manteau and set to music by Ensembles 2.2, to be experienced along the ramparts.
The Citadel will also participate in the City Nature Challenge (April 24 - 27) with dedicated visits for the inventory of urban biodiversity, on Friday, April 24 for high school students and Saturday, April 25 for the general public.
©Pierre Gondard
A progressive restoration that opens new spaces
Behind the cultural programming, the restoration work of Fort Saint-Nicolas is progressing. In 2025, the Singhen rooms were completed, offering new spaces for exhibitions and meetings. The mill terrace, fully renovated, now integrates optimized rainwater management with the restoration of gargoyles and a cistern. It is extended by the North Curtain, a new belvedere with a breathtaking view of the Old Port. These works are carried out by the integration teams of ACTA VISTA and BAO Formation, who support nearly 400 Marseillais each year in the trades of ancient building - making the restoration itself a social act as much as a heritage one.
The next steps are entrusted to the firm Matonti Architecture: restoration of the Guard Tower and the Vendôme Bastion, development of the Saint-Victor Bastion into an outdoor amphitheater. These new spaces are expected by 2030, gradually shaping the silhouette of a major heritage site fully open to the city.
©Solène Mollière
Information and ticketing on the Citadel of Marseille website.