Event
France invented the concours d'élégance in the 1920s, when coachbuilt automobiles paraded alongside elegantly dressed women in competitions that judged style as much as engineering. Since 2014, Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille has revived that tradition at the 115-hectare grounds of Château de Chantilly, whose formal gardens were designed by André Le Nôtre – and which he considered his finest work, even above Versailles.
The event comprises three distinct competitions. The Concours d'Élégance pairs concept cars from manufacturers with haute couture creations, reviving the spirit of those 1920s parades in contemporary form. The Concours d'État assembles around one hundred historic cars from collectors worldwide, competing across seventeen classes for two Best of Show awards – one pre-war, one post-war. The Grand Prix des Clubs brings forty car clubs and around nine hundred vehicles to the Le Nôtre lawns for a garden party judged by the public.
The programme extends well beyond the cars. Horse-drawn carriage rides pass through the Anglo-Chinese garden, equestrian displays run in the Grandes Écuries, and visitors can access the Musée Condé's art collection throughout the day. The jury reflects the event's scope: fifty figures from automotive, fashion, art and cultural worlds. Some 28,000 visitors attended the 2024 edition, where the Lancia Pu+Ra HPE took Concours d'Élégance honours and a 1928 Bugatti T35C claimed pre-war Best of Show.
The château sits fifty kilometres north of Paris, directly accessible by train to Chantilly-Gouvieux station with a short walk or taxi to the gates. The surrounding Oise department offers the Forêt de Chantilly and the Senlis old town as reasonable additions to a longer weekend.
