Overview
M Restaurants in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing pioneered not only fine dining in China but also an entire cultural program of which the annual Literary Festival scene was one of the highlights.
Giving back to the communities that we operated in was always a part of our DNA, and one of our biggest annual events was spearheading the Shanghai international Literary Festival and the Capital Literary Festival in Beijing.
Over more than 20 years we ran 21 literary festivals inviting hundreds and hundreds of writers and working with a variety of international cultural institutions, schools, embassies and individuals.
So the M Festival Nanteuil en Vallée is a continuation of the rewarding work I started in China and will hopefully contribute new activity and energy to our wonderful Charentais village.
The Festival will take place in the grounds of the Abbaye de Nanteuil. The enormous grounds house both the ruins of the Romanesque 12th century church and the 8th century “Trésor.” The beautiful gardens have many old trees and a trellised cloister so there are many beautiful spots for talks both indoors and outdoors.
In the grounds of this beautiful Romanesque Abbey is a wonderful old Granary that is now a museum. Its very spacious rooms are delightfully cool in the summer, which we’re sure we will all appreciate.
The format will be along the following lines :
Friday, July 24 welcome concert in the church of St Jean in Nanteuil or in the grounds of the Abbaye. This concert will be FREE OF CHARGE for everyone.
Saturday July 25th, 10am – 8pm – well known writers & speakers will be discussing a range of subjects and there’ll be one or two musical performances .
Sunday July 25th , 10am – 7pm – well known writers & speakers will be discussing a range of subjects and there’ll be a musical performance to close the festival.
We would be delighted if you were able to join us. As a guest participant you’ll be hosted by local residents in the area who will be delighted to feed and house you and help with your local travel arrangements.
Unfortunately we are operating on a shoestring and cannot cover any international travel but we’re happy to help you arrange train tickets from Paris to Ruffec (our closest train station).
On Friday night 24th July we’ll be hosting a welcome cocktail party before the concert to which hosts, helpers and dignitaries are also invited and on Sunday 26th we’ll have a big THANK YOU CELEBRATION DINNER.
So we do hope you’ll be able to join us and look forward to a fabulous weekend in late July 2026. À l’été prochain!
And so it’s happening … to be kept up-to-date please register on our website and we will send out updates… but we promise not too many!
