Brest, a city with no lack of audacity!

Perched on its patch of land, at the westernmost tip of France, Brest métropole radiates a distinctive aura, unique and plural at the same time. Its identity, made up of the thousands of lives that have seen it grow, is revealed as you walk through its ever-changing landscapes.

The strength of its character and desire to take on new challenges are no doubt inherited from its illustrious explorer forebears. Its thirst to innovate, to see ever further, to go ever higher. 
As the capital of the oceans, Brest is home to the country's largest maritime scientific community, including Ifremer and the European Institute for Marine Studies to cite the most famous. From the Campus mondial de la mer to Shom and France énergies marines, over the decades the region has attracted all the key actors in marine science and technology. 
With its rich academic fabric, Brest attracts thousands of students from all over the world, who come here to learn the ABCs of the ocean.

It's a multi-faceted territory, where commercial ports rub shoulders with yacht marinas, where international cargo sailors meet the world's greatest skippers on their round-the-world voyages. The sea can be sailed, but it can also be explored: you can discover it at Océanopolis or at 70.8 - Galerie de l'Océan.
Here, the heavy sea flows through the veins of men and women. Whether they have sea legs or not! It’s only logical, when you can't take a step without seeing the ocean as the horizon, around the corner of every street, at the turn of every path, every day. It's the sea that inspires and motivates us to act for the future.

It is undoubtedly this exhilarating sea air that explains the local identity, shapes hearts and souls, and gives them that special character. A coastal territory, Brest is open to all winds, warmly welcoming newcomers with the curiosity typical of port cities. Here, people of all ages and origins intermingle and speak with each other, over a drink, when a boat arrives, at the Foire Saint Michel or the famous Foire aux croûtes, at the Stade Brestois... It's a simple, frank, and spontaneous relationship that reflects the pleasure of being together. 

In Brest, not a day goes by without... something happening! From the Quartz, Scène nationale, to the Avel Vor (Plougastel), the Alizé (Guipavas) or Les Ateliers des Capucins, there is always something to experience, share, and discover! Festivals are the lifeblood of the region:

• Winter and summer alike, the electro festival Astropolis,
• In the summer, Le Bout du Monde festival in Crozon and the Fête du Bruit in Landerneau,
• And in 2024, the great Fêtes Maritimes were back again, bringing together traditional boats from all over the world every 4 years.

Sports are on the agenda as well, with the Stade Brestois, Brest Bretagne Handball and Les Albatros, as well as the presence of Pôle France Voile. 
 

The result of an alliance of eight communes, the heart of the metropolis is the city of Brest. In itself an invitation to travel, the city of Ponant has so much to offer those who wish to come along. 
Bombed during the Second World War, the city has preserved a multi-faceted architecture: from the completely rebuilt center to the vestiges of the past, which visitors can discover by strolling alongside the Penfeld River to the historic Rue Saint-Malo. 
It's an absolute must-do before discovering the former shipbuilding workshops of the Marine nationale, Les Ateliers des Capucins. It’s a majestic building, rebuilt as Europe's largest covered public square. This gallery overlooking the Penfeld is home to a media library, a climbing gym, a cinema, cafés and restaurants, and innumerable events... and it’s all linked to the other bank of the Penfeld by France's first urban cable car!

Each of the city’s seven major districts has a soul of its own, with a contemporary city center good for a fancy stroll, before wandering into a bistro and discovering a table to share! The city's main thoroughfares and green spaces go hand in hand, guiding you towards the port and its otherworldly atmosphere, or why not to Recouvrance and its buildings of yesteryear? Unless you cross paths with a brass band on its way to the cheerful Place Guérin in Saint-Martin, or follow in the footsteps of street artists busy bringing color back to the walls of l’Europe, Saint-Pierre, and Bellevue districts! It's hard to choose... you might as well stay and discover the many identities of a generous city that renews itself as often as its sky changes color!

Unloading your suitcases along the quays of Brest is to accept the promise of a new life. A place where everything seems possible and is wide open for innovation and experimentation. Where the collective will always support you in your wildest projects, and where the solitude of a landscape in a storm will also rejuvenate you. A metropolis on a human scale, the region and its communes offer a wide range of housing options. City apartments, townhouses, leafy hamlets... There's something here for everyone, with a range of lifestyles which intertwine to enrich each other. An à la carte menu, with the sea always on the horizon!

Taking the pulse of the region, putting it into words and image to reveal to ourselves and to others who we are and where we want to go; that's the purpose of this regional portrait, which affirms our strengths and our uniqueness. 
A new chapter in the story of Brest, quite simply.