The traditional petanque season in Europe is approximately April through October. A tournament may be a “club” tournament or an “open” tournament. You must be a member of a petanque club affiliated with the FIPJP in order to participate in a “club” tournament. On the other hand, anyone can enter and participate in an “open” — no organizational membership is required.
Upcoming events▲
For information about upcoming events, these sites are useful.
- The La Boule New Yorkaise website hosts a useful tournaments web page.
- The FPUSA’s list of its upcoming tournaments is available at fpusa.org
- To receive email notifications of petanque-related news, including announcements of upcoming events hosted by American petanque clubs, we suggest that you become a Facebook member and “like” the Petanque Amelia Island Open FACEBOOK page.
For YouTube videos of past events, see THIS.
For many years the de facto three “world championships” of Pétanque were—
- the Marseillaise
the Mondial de Millau(see below)- the FIPJP World Championships
Through the summer▲
The Masters de Pétanque▲
Organized by the sports agency Quarterback, the Masters de Pétanque (on Facebook) competition has existed since 1999. It takes place every summer in 8 steps in 8 different French cities: it is in fact a kind of Tour de France of petanque. Participants include only the best players of the year, based on their world ranking, plus a guest team, a team from the host region, and two foreign selections.
The Eurocup▲
The EuroCup is sponsored by the Confédération Européenne de Pétanque (CEP). In 2009 the CEP Board created a “fixed dates” annual calendar to help member Federations plan their pétanque year. The Euro-Cup will be played in groups in week 30, the 1/4 finals in week 40, and the semi-finals and the finals in week 48 every year. The calendar for the EuroCup is available on the CEP website.
June ▲
The FFPJP (French national) championships▲
In France, just before the Marseille, the French National (FFPJP) National Championships are held. For more information, see this.
July▲
Bastille Day in New York City▲
Ricard sponsors an annual Bastille Day event on Smith Street in Brooklyn (New York City). It takes place on a weekend close to July 14 and features a petanque tournament, drinks by Ricard, food, and live bands. Streets are closed off, sand is brought in, the streets are transformed into a giant terrain, and a petanque tournament is held (registration fee is $20 for a 2-person team).
The event was founded by Bette Stoltz of the South Brooklyn Local Development Corporation, along with support from a number of local restaurants, including the Bar Tabac. You can register for the tournament at the Bar Tabac web site. Read more about it here. Here is an informative short video, and here is nice video of the 2010 event.
Le Mondial la Marseillaise à Pétanque▲
Every year, in the first weekend in July, in Marseille, France, the Mondial la Marseillaise à Pétanque is the largest and, for many, the most prestigious Pétanque tournament in the world. It is a five-day event of triples matches and competition is intense. As with many European tournaments, the tournament proceeds on a single elimination basis – you lose once, you’re out. For more information, this is a good story. (The organization has unwisely chosen to have a URL containing the year, so the web site for the tournament changes each year. A good place to start your web search is with this Google search.)
August▲
Le Mondial de Millau▲
For 34 years, Le Mondial de Millau was one of, if not the, most important competion of the world’s top pétanque players. It was a week-long pétanque festival that attracted 15,000 spectators and the world’s top players, and was supported by a small army of 500 volunteers. (See THIS.) In September 2015 the mayor of Millau, responding to complaints by residents that the overwhelming number of attendees of the event were strangling traffic and consuming all available (legal and illegal) parking spaces, demanded that the event start taking responsibility for the parking and traffic problems. The event organizers, feeling that they were not able to comply with the mayor’s demands, cancelled the event.
September ▲
The FIPJP World championships▲
In late September each year in a different city, the FIPJP World Championships are held.
October▲
The La Boule New Yorkaise “New York Open”▲
In October, in New York City, the New York Open is sponsored by the La Boule New Yorkaise, the oldest and best-known petanque club in New York City.
November▲
The FPUSA (USA national) championships▲
The FPUSA national triples championships are usually held during the first weekend in November. During odd-numbered years, this is also the “world championship qualifier”, i.e. the tournament that selects the team to represent the FPUSA at the following’s year’s FIPJP world championships, which are held during even-numbered years. For the precise dates for this year, see the calendar at fpusa.org.
The Petanque Amelia Island Open▲
The Petanque Amelia Island Open (before 2017, the Petanque America Open) is the largest open petanque competition in the USA. It is held each year in November in Fernandina Beach, on Amelia Island, Florida, a coastal barrier island about 40 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida. In the USA, it is THE petanque event of the year.
December▲
Le Trophée des Villes▲
Le Trophée des Villes (roughly “the Cities Trophy”) is a major event in French petanque. It brings together 32 teams of the best players in France, each team representing its club’s city, in a 4-day competition. It is broadcast live in France but the broadcasts are not accessible from the USA. You can, however, watch videos of the Trophée des Villes on YouTube. It has a Facebook page.
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