Taking care of your body is also part of the Open Canoe Festival experience.

This year, we are pleased to welcome Samāna – Holistic Massage & Bodywork, with Mathilde, who will offer moments of relaxation and recovery throughout the festival.

Whether after a day on the water, between workshops, or simply to take a break, you can enjoy a range of treatments tailored to your needs:

• table massage (30 or 60 minutes)
• chair massage (30 minutes)

Each session is personalized, with approaches that can be relaxing, revitalizing, or detoxifying, inspired by different techniques:
Californian, Ayurvedic, lemniscate, and lymphatic drainage.

Mathilde uses only organic, locally sourced massage oils and essential oils, in a respectful approach to both body and environment.

She is fluent in English, welcoming both French-speaking and international participants.

A simple, caring, and deeply restorative experience to fully integrate into your OCF journey.

This year, Quebec takes center stage at the Open Canoe Festival. A land of powerful rivers and vast lakes nestled between mountains and forests, it has inspired generations of paddlers—and is also the birthplace of a canoe brand renowned for its durability and performance: Esquif Canoes.

Some rivers have become almost mythical for those who paddle in Quebec. The Mistassibi with its powerful rapids, the Rouge with its long summer descents, the Jacques-Cartier winding through the mountains, and the Bonaventure, famous for its crystal-clear waters. These rivers are much more than adventure playgrounds: they are places of transmission, where people learn to read the water, share techniques, and cultivate a common passion.

From its very beginnings, Esquif has grown in direct connection with this canoeing culture—a culture shaped by the land, by the sometimes demanding conditions of Quebec’s rivers, and by a community of paddlers who have never stopped exploring, learning, and sharing.

Over the years, the company has also sought to meet the needs of enthusiasts by pushing the limits of design and materials. The goal: to create canoes that are robust, durable, and lightweight, capable of supporting adventures on both technical rivers and long expeditions.

Today, Esquif canoes travel far beyond the rivers of Quebec and have established a strong presence on the international stage.

Come meet the team and discover the brand at the Open Canoe Festival 2026—and get a chance to win your very own Esquif canoe.

The Official Open Canoe Festival 2026 T-shirt Is Ready!

As every year, the official 2026 T-shirt will be offered to all participants. A souvenir to keep for years, but also a symbol of belonging to a large community of paddlers who share a passion for rivers and canoe touring.

For four days, the Open Canoe Festival brings together paddlers from all over Europe on the Drôme River to celebrate open canoe culture: technical workshops, river trips, meetings with some of the best canoe instructors, gear demos, and friendly evenings around a shared passion for river travel.

With more than 130 workshops, international coaches, and hundreds of participants from many countries, the Open Canoe Festival is now the largest European gathering dedicated to canoe touring and river expeditions.

Venture Canoes are excited to attend the Open Canoe Festival once again, and will be bringing a fleet of demos with them, including the most whitewater capable, traditional PE open canoe on the market, the Afon! If you want to feel like a superhero on familiar runs, or take on rapids you previously thought impossible, then the Afon is the answer – just check out this footage of it on the closing rapid of the Tummel in Scotland.

Try this simple yet effective feature from Venture Canoes at Open Canoe Festival

Experience the entire Venture Canoes range at this year’s Open Canoe Festival, all of which feature Recessed Gunwales to ensure unloading and loading your roof rack, trailer, or storage rack is no longer a bone-shaking, frustration-filled event, and that your paddle and fingers are saved from those bumps and scrapes.

Want to improve your canoeing skills? “Destination Rivières” offers a range of technical courses tailored to all levels. Looking for adventure, nature, and moments of contemplation? Join the association for a canoe touring trip on one of the most beautiful rivers in France or Europe.

On the occasion of the Open Canoe Festival, Aurélien Rateau and Mathieu Slaghenauffi have been offering workshops for many years to help you get started or improve your canoeing skills.

Ready to take it a step further?

Join the technical courses they run on the Durance, the Drôme, the Ardèche, the Orb, the Hérault… and improve your paddling technique, river reading skills, and safety procedures.

Take part in a canoe touring adventure. From the Allier to the braided rivers of the Mediterranean basin, from the Dordogne to the Danube Delta, from the Tarn to the rivers of Lapland, Destination Rivières offers trips on calm waters as well as adventures on whitewater rivers.

The goal? To listen to the stories rivers tell us, observe the life they shelter, live in tune with nature — and share unforgettable moments of conviviality.

France Télévisions was with Destination Rivières on the Vjosa River in Albania in 2025.

There are still places available for the spring courses and the summer 2026 canoe tours!

Visit the Destination Rivières website: www.destination-rivieres.org
Receive the next navigation program: https://destination-rivieres.org/newsletter/

A special edition in every respect, with the presence of Canadian paddler Becky Mason, a record number of participants, and a river flood that forced us to move the workshops to the lake… ultimately resulting in one of the most beautiful editions ever organized!

Ask those who have already experienced it: the OCF is simply unique!

We are delighted to announce that our first partners Canoë Diffusion and Esquif are offering a magnificent “Pocket Canyon Lite” canoe from Esquif, worth €2,500.

This legendary model will be offered fully equipped with flotation bags and reinforced stems — the ultimate whitewater canoe!

There’s no doubt the suspense will once again be unbearable during the big Saturday night prize draw, where more than €10,000 worth of prizes will be awarded to the lucky winners.

A thousand thanks to Pierre Orban / Canoë Diffusion and Jacques Chassé / Esquif for their support since the very beginning of the Open Canoe Festival adventure.

Designed by paddlers, for paddlers, the Canua app has become one of the most comprehensive canoe and kayak databases in Europe. Available on the App Store, it supports paddlers at every stage of their journey — from planning to navigation, recording, and sharing routes.

Ultra-Detailed Mapping

Precise river descriptions, kilometre-accurate route tracking, put-ins and take-outs, navigability information, dams, locks, obstacles, campsites, suggested routes, and paddling regions: all essential data is accessible directly on your smartphone and regularly updated.

Canua currently lists more than 4,000 paddleable waters across more than 20 European countries. From German rivers and neighbouring countries to the waterways of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Great Britain, Spain, the Baltic states and Corsica, the coverage is extensive. The app even includes the entire 2,850 km course of the Danube, from its source to its mouth at the Black Sea.

An Exceptional Database

More than 150,000 geo-points are integrated into the map, each linked to navigation and trip-planning functions. Over 5,000 rivers feature detailed descriptions and practical advice to help you paddle safely and confidently.

Plan and Navigate

Canua allows you to define routes directly on the map. You can set departure and arrival points using geo-points, choose intermediate destinations, or freely position points along the river. The app then calculates the distance and provides an estimated paddling time.

The built-in GPS tracking feature records your canoe, kayak, paddleboard, or SUP trips. Your tracks can be saved in a digital logbook and easily shared.

A Collaborative Platform

The database is continuously updated with contributions from the community. Users can submit updates directly on geo-points and rivers. All information is reviewed by the DKV waterway editorial team before publication.

Explore and Share

The alphabetical river catalogue recognises all spelling variations and alternative river names, making it easy to find your next destination. You can also share planned routes or recorded tracks with other paddlers. Canua automatically generates a route description including key points of interest and a map extract.

An invitation to discover Europe one river at a time.

Available on the App Store.

https://canua.info/en

The Open Canoe Festival is featured in the pages of the German magazine Paddle Power, which has published a multi-page report dedicated to the Drôme River and our gathering.

Under the evocative title “Stechpaddel-Paradies im französischen Süden” — “Single-Blade Paradise in the South of France” — the article immerses its readers in the heart of the Drôme Valley and captures the unique atmosphere that defines the Festival.
The report highlights the richness of the programme, the diversity of workshops, and the truly international dimension of the event, which brings together several hundred paddlers from across Europe each year. It also conveys the spirit that drives the OCF: technical excellence on the water, a strong culture of knowledge-sharing, convivial evenings at the campsite, and a shared river ethos that transcends borders. The beauty of the natural setting — clear water, alpine landscapes and characterful villages — naturally plays a central role in the story.

This publication represents a meaningful recognition of the entire community that brings the Open Canoe Festival to life — participants, coaches, partners and volunteers alike — and reflects the growing interest across Europe for canoe touring and river itinerancy.

We warmly thank the editorial team of Paddle Power, as well as the author of the article, Raphael Kuner, one of our most distinguished coaches, for his committed and passionate perspective on the Drôme and on the collective adventure that the OCF represents.

The article can be viewed by clicking on the PDF link below.

Born in Grenoble, Petit Bivouac is a French premium clothing brand inspired by exploration and the quiet contemplation of nature. From mountain peaks to forests, following torrents and rivers all the way to the sea, our world is rooted in the wild landscapes we love to roam.

At Petit Bivouac, adventure is not about the number of miles covered or performance achieved. It is measured by the intensity of what is experienced. Our pieces carry the imprint of our memories and field observations. Produced in small batches, made in Europe from eco-responsible materials, they are designed for those who want to wear clothing that reflects their values.

Our approach naturally resonates with the world of canoeing and low-impact river travel. That is why we are proud to support events that celebrate freedom and a deep connection to the elements, such as the Open Canoe Festival.

Heading Upstream

In a world where everything moves faster and performance seems to take precedence over everything else, we choose to move differently — at our own pace, staying true to our values and our respect for the living world.

Like all our creations, our T-shirts embody this philosophy. Produced in small batches in Europe and made from 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton, the shirt "Remonter la rivière" (Heading Upstream) stands for choosing a less obvious path — going against the current.

It speaks of time passing, unhurried exploration, wonder, and the simple joy of collecting memories along the way.

Wander River
Among our plaid shirts, the “Wander River” shirt follows the same philosophy. Inspired by the quiet contemplation of our rivers and moments spent by the water, it brings together comfort, durability, and understated elegance.

Designed for getaways as well as everyday life, it transitions seamlessly from bivouacs to office days or time in town — with the same consistency and authenticity.

Petit Bivouac in a few words:

Quality clothing & accessories for nature lovers and wild adventurers

French brand based in Grenoble

European manufacturing

Small batches & eco-responsible approach

Shop : 9 quai Claude Bernard, Grenoble, France
Website (available in English and German) : https://petitbivouac.com
Instagram : https://instagram.com/petitbivouac
Facebook : https://facebook.com/petitbivouac