The United Nations placed 21 September 2026 under the theme “Invest in Peace – For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day”, paying tribute to everyday peacemakers. In France, Mayors for Peace France and the National Collective of Peace Marches, which brings together nearly 200 organisations, called for more marches, debates, exhibitions and meetings with elected officials from 19 to 26 September, the latter being the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Cities in the network each took part in their own way.
AUBAGNE
36th Peace March
Aubagne, one of the very first French cities in the network and long at the head of the national association, held its 36th Peace March on Sunday 20 September, in the presence of the mayor and elected officials.
AUDINCOURT
A collective artwork at the foot of the Peace Tree
The City of Audincourt invited residents on 21 September at 5:30 p.m. to the foot of the Peace Tree in Parc Japy. Children from the associations Réussir Ensemble and the Francas du Doubs opened the ceremony with poems. Participants then wrote a message or drew a symbol to build a collective artwork with the MJC Saint-Exupéry, next to a “Garland of Peace Words” made by the children. The municipality stressed that peace is built every day, through dialogue and solidarity.
BONNEUIL-SUR-MARNE
Branches for the children who are victims of war
A recent member of the network, Bonneuil-sur-Marne brought together residents, elected officials and children from after-school centres on 21 September at 5 p.m. around the peace tree on the Mail Salvador-Allende: readings, speeches and the laying of branches in tribute to children around the world who are victims of war. The city adopted the 2026 UN theme in its communications.
GRIGNY
Young Writer and Young Illustrator Prize on the theme of peace
As part of its week around the International Day of Peace, Grigny, which presents itself as a “city for peace”, presented the awards of the 12th Young Writer and Young Illustrator Prize on Wednesday 23 September at the Sidney-Bechet cultural centre. This year’s theme was “Friendship, Sport, Disability: Sources of Peace”. Open to young Grigny residents aged 6 to 15, the competition encourages creativity through writing and drawing. Before a packed hall, participants received their awards from municipal councillors Yveline Le Briand, Seynabou Léonie Diarra and Mahmoud Soilihi, as well as volunteers from the association Lire et faire lire.
LASSÉRAN AND CAZENEUVE
At Nestier, rural mayors at the heart of “Towns and Villages for Peace”
On Sunday 6 September, the CCAS holiday centre in Nestier (Hautes-Pyrénées) hosted the “Longing for Peace and Humanity” festival, organised by a local section of the PCF with more than twenty political, trade-union and community organisations. The day opened with a poetic march for peace, followed at 11 a.m. by a conference, “Towns and Villages for Peace”, bringing together committed mayors. Martine Laborde, mayor of Cazeneuve, delivered a speech on behalf of Michel Soriano, former mayor of Lasséran, who brought the culture of peace to his village: a peace square, garden, wall and café, and sustained work with children. She argued that peace begins in municipalities, is learned from school age, and requires more courage than war. She presented the Local Action Programme for a Culture of Peace proposed by Mayors for Peace France, then spoke of Ukraine, Gaza and the memory of the hibakusha. She concluded by urging elected officials to be “architects of bonds” rather than walls, before leaving the audience with three words: peace, humanity, courage.
MALAKOFF
“Perspectives on Peace”: nine days of art, debate and nuclear remembrance
A historic member of the network, Malakoff devoted an entire week to the International Day of Peace. The programme, led by peace and international solidarity associations and the Artists for Peace collective, combined creation in public space, film and debate.
- 19 Sept. Creative workshop on peace at the Tréso festival.
- 20 Sept. Place du 11-Novembre-1918 and Square de la Paix: trees dressed in knitwear, “Peace Messages” embroidered by residents since 2024, the dance performance Bercer le monde (“Rocking the World”, Compagnie Transverse), a concert, and speeches by artists, citizens and elected officials.
- 22 Sept. Round table “Countering the Logic of War with a Return to Diplomacy” (ARAC and the Peace Movement), with historian Chloé Maurel, Kataline Gabriel and Francis Wurtz.
- 23 Sept. Documentary Cœur secret in the presence of director Tom Fontenille.
- 25 Sept. Evening organised by Femmes solidaires in tribute to Madeleine Pelletier.
- 25–27 Sept. Exhibition “Saying No to Nuclear Weapons: Never Again Hiroshima and Nagasaki”, featuring original drawings from the film L’Oiseau bonheur (“The Happy Bird”, Hiroshima-Nagasaki Institute).
- 27 Sept. Screening of L’Oiseau bonheur, an animated film by Seigi Arihara, presented by Miho Cibot-Shimma, president of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Institute.
MONTPELLIER
A peace week driven by community organisations
- 20 Sept. Documentary Le facteur de Nagasaki (“The Postman of Nagasaki”) at the Utopia cinema.
- 22 Sept. Café-debate on arms production and exports with Patrice Bouveret (ICAN France, Observatoire des armements).
- 24 Sept. Lecture by Jacques Fath on war, law and peace, Paul-Valéry University.
- 25 Sept. In Sète, conference-debate “Protecting Without Weapons: Civilian Peace Intervention in Global Crises”, with François Liberti, former mayor of Sète, Cécile Dubernet (Institut pour la paix), Marion Brastel (Comité pour une Intervention Civile de Paix), Logan Girard and Sophie Mazas (Human Rights League).
- 26 Sept. Gathering at 2:30 p.m. for the Day for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, followed by a march for the climate, nature, peace and social justice from the Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle.
NOISY-LE-SEC
A commemoration on the town hall square
The municipality of Noisy-le-Sec commemorated the International Day of Peace on Monday 21 September at 6 p.m. on the town hall square, with associations and residents. The initiative was led by Ba El Hadj, the councillor in charge of international affairs, culture of peace and religious affairs. The creation of a dedicated portfolio for the culture of peace reflects how firmly the theme is rooted in municipal action.
SAINT-MARTIN-DE-VALGALGUES, CENDRAS, LA GRAND-COMBE AND SAINT-JULIEN-LES-ROSIERS
Looking back at the Peace Festival
For several days, municipalities members of Mayors for Peace brought peace to life through meetings, films, music, discussions and, above all, a great deal of emotion.
In Saint-Martin-de-Valgalgues, the festival opened with the group Vidala, a powerful musical moment centred on peoples, freedom and peace.
In Cendras, the screening of L’Oiseau bonheur deeply moved the audience. About fifty people attended and the discussion that followed was particularly rich. The children also spoke up, with simple but strikingly fitting words: “war is pointless, the planes could drop origami cranes instead!”
On 21 September, International Day of Peace, the program continued with Vidala in front of 80 CM1–CM2 pupils (ages 9–11) in La Grand-Combe, before gathering in Saint-Julien-les-Rosiers to discuss how municipalities and their residents can bring a genuine culture of peace to life every day. Bringing peace to life is not only about speaking of the absence of war. It is also about passing on knowledge, educating, exchanging, creating bonds and building together a society founded on solidarity, respect and fraternity. Peace is built every day, in those municipalities as in their lives.
SARAN
“The Bomb and Us”: nuclear disarmament at the cinema
Saran held its Peace Day on Wednesday 23 September. In the afternoon, stands and activities filled the Parc du Château de l’Étang. In the evening, the city offered a free screening at the Pathé cinema in Saran of the documentary La bombe et nous by Xavier-Marie Bonnot, followed by a discussion with the director, in the midst of a week of mobilisation against nuclear weapons.
VARENNES-VAUZELLES
“1001 Cultures” in solidarity with Ukraine and a new peace tree
From 17 to 21 September, the cultural and civic event “Thousand and One Cultures” put Ukraine in the spotlight at the Gérard-Philipe centre and on the Esplanade de la Paix: exhibitions, dance, food, theatre, music, talks and workshops. The city of Murafa, a partner of Varennes-Vauzelles, offered an art workshop and an exhibition of drawings by its children, and the two municipalities signed a partnership charter in the presence of a Ukrainian delegation and representatives of Burgundy and the Vinnytsia oblast. The festival ended on 21 September, International Day of Peace, with the planting of three guelder roses, a tree symbolising Ukraine, donated by a local business: the fourth peace tree on the esplanade. Video messages from a deputy mayor of Dunkirk and the first deputy mayor of Mariupol were shown during the conference. The solidarity collection gathered nearly 500 kilos of hygiene products, food and basic necessities, as well as five computers, which will be sent to refugees from Mariupol by the association ANAR. The municipality presents the event as the start of a lasting partnership with Murafa.
VÉNISSIEUX
A municipal event on Wednesday 23 September
The City of Vénissieux invited residents to mark the International Day of Peace on Wednesday 23 September. This annual event is organised with the local branch of the Peace Movement; in 2025 it took the form of a peace tree planting and an exhibition of children’s drawings of doves at the Maison de l’enfance Henri-Wallon.
VITRY-SUR-SEINE
“Refusing the spiral of war and austerity”: the mayor calls for a march
In a statement published on 21 September, the mayor of Vitry-sur-Seine, Pierre Bell-Lloch, reaffirmed the need to uphold the demand for peace in the face of multiplying wars and violations of international law. He links these conflicts to residents’ daily lives, citing the surge in fuel and energy prices that weighs first on working-class households.
The text criticises the Government’s alignment with NATO demands and the rearmament race, noting that the Defence budget rose by €6.7 billion in 2026 while the State asks municipalities for greater efforts. The city therefore called on residents to join, alongside the local branch of the Peace Movement and associations, a march on Monday 21 September at 6 p.m., starting from the town hall.
The same day, the city published a photo report on Festicapaix 2026, a festive day built around the message “All Different, Together”. The year had already been marked by the 10th Vivicittà, a race for peace organised in April with Ivry-sur-Seine, and by the Fêtes du Lilas devoted to the culture of peace in May.
LIVE PEACE 2026
Concerts for Peace
16–30 September
Cities in the network
Concerts for peace in network cities
Launched in 2025 with the support of ten Nobel Peace Prize laureates, the association Live Peace organises concerts and cultural events around 21 September under the slogan #WeWantPeace. It aims to turn the International Day of Peace into a popular celebration, modelled on the Fête de la Musique. The initiative reached around 50 cities in 2025 and successfully achieved its target of 88 cities in 2026, inviting municipalities to become “Live Peace Cities.”
Varennes-Vauzelles registered two concerts in the global programme at the Gérard-Philipe centre. On Saturday 19 September at 8 p.m., a classical music concert closed the day’s workshops, with pianist Tatiana Prokopenko, who left Russia and supports Ukraine, and the Saint-Minou eurythmics school. The programme: Bach, Grieg and Beethoven. A second concert was scheduled for 20 September.
Saran registered its 23 September Peace Day as a Live Peace “City Event” (see the article on Saran).
In Paris, Live Peace offered a free concert on 16 September at Hasard Ludique (18th arrondissement) with Ellé, Maxence Alexandre and FYRS. Other initiatives were associated with it, such as a peace symposium by the Amicale du Rotary pour la Francophonie on 21 September at the Salle Cortot.
The national highlight took place in Annecy on 20 September, with a major free concert at Parc Vignières-Pommaries (Imany, Synapson, Chimène Badi…) and the presence of Philip Jennings, co-president of the International Peace Bureau. Beyond France’s borders, several Mayors for Peace member cities also joined the movement: Ypres, where schoolchildren paraded drumming to the Grand-Place and unfurled a 60-metre peace flag, Bruges with its peace week, and Biograd na Moru in Croatia.
Web site : https://www.live-peace.com/
Photo credit: Mayors for Peace France