FAVORITE VILLAGE OF THE FRENCH. Esquelbecq, located in the Normandy region, was named France’s favorite village of the year 2023 by Stéphane Bern on France 3. Discover the ranking of the competitors.
[Mis à jour le 1er juillet 2023 à 3h07] The 11th edition of the “Favorite Village of the French” crowned the village of Esquelbecq in the Hauts-de-France. Among the 14 French candidates (13 in mainland France, 1 overseas), Esquelbecq is ahead of the villages of Lavoûte-Chilhac and Lassay-les-Châteaux. Esquelbecq is therefore the second municipality in Flanders and Hauts-de-France, after Cassel 5 years ago, to win the title.
“There was extraordinary enthusiasm from a team of elected officials, municipal employees, associations and I am really happy with this outcome because they really deserve it” rejoiced Didier Roussel, the mayor of the village. “It’s the reflection of a winning region. We know how to take up challenges in our region and thank you for offering it to us”. The classification in pictures.
14 villages in mainland France and overseas have been selected to represent the charm of the French regions. Discover the candidates in pictures:
The winner of the 2023 edition of the “Favorite Village of the French” is Esquelbecq in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region.
The media exposure to which the candidate villages are subject has certain repercussions in terms of tourist numbers. “The real wealth of these territories are also the people who live and work there. We value the territories by showing the material heritage, with the buildings, and immaterial like the local specialties” underlined Stéphane Bern to Paris Match. Each summer following the broadcast of the program, the increase in attendance is clear for each village, even for those who find themselves at the end of the ranking.
The votes were open from Monday February 20 at 8 a.m. to Friday March 10, 2023 at 11:59 p.m., the date of the election of the “Favorite Village of the French”. Viewers could vote for their favorite village among the 14 in the running, by telephone on 3245, by typing the number of the village (from 1 to 14). The show received over 900,000 votes. The vote was made public during the 11th edition of the program presented by Stéphane Bern on France 3, this Friday, June 30, 2023.
Discover below the list of all the winners of the “Favorite Village of the French”, year after year, since the year 2023 to the start of the show in 2012:
- 2023: Esquelbecq (Hauts-de-France)
- 2022: Bergheim (Great East)
- 2021: Sancerre (Centre-Loire Valley)
- 2020: Hunspach (Great East)
- 2019: Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue (Normandy)
- 2018: Kassel (Hauts-de-France)
- 2017: Kaysersberg (Great East)
- 2016: Rochefort-en-Terre (Brittany)
- 2015: Ploumanac’h (Brittany)
- 2014: Cordes-sur-Ciel (Occitania)
- 2013: Eguisheim (Great East)
- 2012: Saint-Cirq-Lapopie (Occitania)