This year, the honorary presidency will be held by Jean-François Piège. Following in the footsteps of Guillaume Gomez, Régis Marcon, Olivier Roellinger, Thierry Marx and Pierre Gagnaire, the two-Michelin-starred chef will therefore take the symbolic helm of the 2026 edition. As the author of numerous books and a great lover of literature, Piège epitomises the fusion of cuisine and the written word that the festival has always championed. The chef, who has built part of his career around ingredients, France’s culinary heritage and regional cuisine, is also set to give a demonstration during the festival – a first for an honorary president of the event.
And alongside him, Périgueux is beginning to line up some heavyweights. Régis Marcon, Philippe Etchebest and Mory Sacko are among the first names to be announced. This is a way of fostering dialogue between several generations and various approaches to haute cuisine: regional cuisine, popular gastronomy, contemporary creativity and a fusion of influences. This constellation of chefs will also be joined by personalities who have built much of their reputation online, including Hervé Cuisine, Whoogy’s and Monelle.
This mix is no coincidence. The cookbook is no longer just that thick volume sitting on a shelf between two encyclopaedias. Recipes now circulate across print, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and television programmes. By inviting Michelin-starred chefs, authors and digital creators alike, the Festival du Livre Gourmand acknowledges this transformation: today, passing on the art of cooking also means knowing how to tell its story, film it, photograph it and, at times, condense it into a few dozen seconds.
But one of the central themes of this year’s festival is likely to be the local area. In a region where gastronomy and local identity are intimately linked, it is hard to imagine a more natural theme. For several years now, the Festival has championed this commitment to not reducing gastronomy to the chef’s spectacular performance. Agriculture, production, responsible consumption, the passing on of culinary traditions, local supply chains and culinary heritage are also part of its remit. For three days, Périgueux aims to become a sort of life-size laboratory exploring our relationship with what we eat.
The event’s popularity certainly seems well established. The 2025 edition attracted over 24,000 visitors and brought together more than 130 prominent figures — chefs, authors, publishers and journalists. A few years earlier, in 2021, the festival recorded just over 10,000 visitors: this growth gives an idea of how much the event has expanded.
The concept, however, remains deliberately accessible: taking gastronomy out of restaurants and books out of bookshops to foster encounters. Cooking demonstrations, talks and debates, masterclasses, workshops and literary cafés are once again set to punctuate the three-day event. The festival also aims to extend its reach beyond the confines of Périgueux and involve local producers and artisans in the event.
This community-focused aspect is probably what most distinguishes the Festival du Livre Gourmand from yet another gathering of celebrity chefs. You might come to catch a glimpse of Philippe Etchebest or Jean-François Piège, leave with a signed book, discover a local Périgord producer, attend a discussion on food and, finally, spend an hour watching someone prepare a dish. The book then becomes a pretext for a much broader experience.
There is still some mystery surrounding the full programme. As of 2 October, the official website does list the dates and Jean-François Piège as honorary president, but has not yet published the full detailed programme online. The initial announcements, however, set the tone: plenty of chefs, local produce, authors, new media and a clear desire to broaden the audience even further.
From 13 to 15 November, Périgueux is therefore unlikely to be talking solely about cooking. The city will be discussing what eating means today: a culture, a memory, a pleasure, a profession, a region and, from now on, also a way of telling the world’s story.
