©Fourme d'Ambert tasting session|AOP Fourme d’Ambert – Qui Plus Est

1st and 2nd August 2026 Fourmofolies in Ambert, The Fourmofolies and the Fourm'idables picnics. Two ways to enjoy the Fourme d'Ambert PDO experience

In Ambert, the star cheese is called Fourme. A small cheese with a big destiny, it can be found on every table in France, proudly bearing its PDO label. As the emblem of an entire region, it’s only right that it should be celebrated in the way it deserves. Once again this year, the Fourme d’Ambert PDO is the star of the Fourm’idables picnics to be held in July 2026. And the famous Fourmofolies in Ambert on 1 and 2 August 2026. Treat your taste buds to a gourmet interlude during your summer holidays. Because Fourme d’Ambert PDO is the sweetest of the blue cheeses.

Fourmofolies : Ambert celebrates its Fourme cheese

The event is free and open to all in Ambert town centre.

Almost everyone loves Fourme d’Ambert. Round to the eye, light on the palate, creamy yet firm, it has an inimitable elegance. Over the years, this grand dame has become one of France’s favourite cheeses. Appreciated by Michelin-starred chefs, the Fourme d’Ambert PDO deserves to be celebrated. Calling all epicureans! Every summer, the town of Ambert celebrates its famous blue-veined cheese over a colourful weekend. On 1 and 2 August 2026, the Fourmofolies will take to the streets of Ambert for an event that’s all about sharing and conviviality. Above all, it’s an opportunity to discover or rediscover the Fourme d’Ambert PDO, with its gastronomic delights and festivities.

©Equestrian show |AOP Fourme d’Ambert – Qui Plus Est

La Fourme through hills and valleys

The Fourmofolies are also a great opportunity to showcase the Ambert region, its products and its producers. The producers take this opportunity to show the public what mountain farming in the Livradois-Forez region is really all about. With its preserved traditions and know-how, and its innovations too.

Because the Fourmofolies is intended to be an ” open-air farm “, the event will showcase the world of agriculture. Demonstrations of Fourme cheese-making, tastings, recipes and the presence of herds. A local market for the weekend, Ambert also plays host to dozens of exhibitors from all over France. There will be plenty of entertainment and games for young and old, as well as free concerts on Saturday evening.

These two days of festivities mark the end of the year’s work by the Syndicat Interprofessionnel de la Fourme d’Ambert (SIFam) to promote the PDO.

The programme

The Fourmofolies return to Ambert!

In 2026, get ready for a unique weekend with :
🌽 A tasty local market
🎶 Free open-air concerts
🥁 Surprising musical performances
👨‍🍳 Demonstrations by passionate chefs
🐐 An open-air farm
✨ And an avalanche of festive entertainment!

It’s 100% free, all weekend long! Don’t miss the party!

Fourmofolies 2021 4 — ©Foume d'Ambert appetizers| © Nathalie Dubost, Qui PLus Est

An incredible picnic that whet the appetite

Relaxed, casual, a little old-fashioned but so delicious, the picnic is an ode to the lightness of fine weather. Sharing a picnic in the great outdoors gives you the freedom of a summer holiday! And when it’s one of the Fourm’idables picnics, gastronomy is a special guest. As a prelude to the Fourmofolies, an event celebrating theFourmed’Ambert PDO on the first weekend in August.

The exact dates have yet to be announced, but the Fourmi’dables will be on hand to offer a tasty treat. When the Fourme d’Ambert PDO revisits the picnic, Toques d’Auvergne chefs prepare the main course!

A tasty programme put on by the Syndicat interprofessionnel de la Fourme d’Ambert (SIFam) with its Fourm’idables picnics. From mignardises to desserts, the mild blue-veined cheese is obviously present in the preparations. But the menu also gives pride of place to other delicacies and local produce.

You can book your packed lunch online to enjoy a country-style tasting of fourme in all its forms.

Fourmidables Picnic 2023 2 — ©FOURM'idables picnics at Col du Béal|Clara Michard, Qui PLus Est

Fourmidables Pique nique 2023 3 — ©FOURM'idables picnics at Col du Béal|Clara Michard, Qui PLus Est

Fourmidables Pique nique 2023 1 — ©FOURM'idables picnics at Col du Béal|Clara Michard, Qui PLus Est

Picnic treats a landscape to savour

The Fourm’idables picnics set up their tablecloths in the PDO production area. Here, at an altitude of 1,390m, you can feast your eyes on open spaces as far as the eye can see. The panorama offers a 360° turn of the horizon over the Forez mountains, the Cantal and Sancymountains, the Dômes range and even the Alps on a clear day.

Above all, these vast expanses of mountain pastures and meadows cover the heart of the Fourme d’Ambert PDO geographical area. It is this grassland that feeds the cows whose milk is used to make the Fourme, giving it its distinctive flavour. So it’s only a short step from the landscape to a slice of Fourme!

But it’s also the people and traditions that make up the terroir.

The jasseries, traditional farms whose cellars were used as cheese factories, dot the landscape with their discreet presence. They represent the entireagro-pastoralhistory of the people of Forez and the skills involved in making Fourme d’Ambert cheese.

What grander and stronger setting could there be to fully appreciate the mildest of blue cheeses?

A simple cheese with a great destiny

A slate grey rind, a creamy texture, a full-bodied flavour and a real character! Here’s a portrait of the queen of the feast. It’s a native of the Hautes-Chaumes, a vast area of high moorland and meadows at the highest point of the Forez mountains. Since the Middle Ages, Fourme d’Ambert has been produced on the mountain pastures in a pastoral tradition handed down from generation to generation.