AI Events Across PACA: Marseille, Nice, Aix, Avignon, Toulon (September-October 2026)

Published September 4, 2026 | Regional AI Ecosystem

Marseille hosts the most visible AI events of the back-to-school season, but it's far from the only city in the region moving on this front: Nice and Sophia Antipolis have a particularly structured AI research ecosystem, while Aix-en-Provence, Avignon and Toulon offer more practical, business-oriented formats and territorial networking events. Here's the full roundup of upcoming AI and tech events across the PACA region between September and October 2026.

Marseille

Marseille remains the region's main AI hub this fall, with several major events in September and October.

IA Aix-Marseille Meetup #12 — September 8, 2026, Free Pro (15th arrondissement). Networking evening with technical talks, feedback sessions and demos around AI agents and moving projects from prototype to production. Free, registration required.

Le Grand Bain — September 14, 2026, Palais du Pharo. La French Tech Aix-Marseille's flagship startup and innovation event, with over 1,800 attendees expected. Theme: "ERROR 404 — Refresh to success."

AIM 2026 — September 24-25, 2026, CEPAC Vélodrome. The region's major AI summit: over 4,800 attendees expected, conferences, panels and an exhibitor area. 2026 theme: "THE BIG SHIFT — The Great Acceleration." Announced speakers include government ministers and business leaders (OVHcloud, Michelin).

Village INNOVA'Marseille — September 25-27, 2026, Parc Chanot. A startup showcase within the Marseille International Fair, spotlighting 10 young regional companies.

Wax Conf — October 1, 2026, CEPAC Vélodrome. Tech conference (cloud, cybersecurity, data, AI) for around 700 IT professionals and developers.

Forum des Entrepreneurs — October 8, 2026, CEPAC Vélodrome. UPE13's 26th edition, themed "FUTURE(S)": AI, energy, industry and sovereignty on the agenda for business leaders and entrepreneurs.

See our dedicated Marseille AI events roundup for more detail on each of these.

Aix-en-Provence

No major event exclusively dedicated to AI has been identified in Aix-en-Provence after September 4, 2026. The Aix ecosystem nonetheless stays connected to Marseille's events through La French Tech Aix-Marseille, which runs joint meetups and events across both cities — see the Marseille section above for the main upcoming dates (Le Grand Bain, the IA Aix-Marseille Meetup, AIM 2026).

The main AI/business event of the season in Aix, Le Business est dans le Pré (6th edition, Château du Seuil), took place on September 3, 2026 — already past, but it confirms the AI, cybersecurity and digital sovereignty positioning of this event for future editions.

Avignon and Greater Avignon

The Grand Avignon's Digital Academy offers a program of practical workshops and training sessions on AI and cybersecurity, tailored to freelancers, associations and small businesses in Vaucluse.

Two events are scheduled in early September:

• AI for associations — Tuesday, September 8, 6:30-8:00 PM, free entry.
• Integrating AI into your daily professional life — Friday, September 11, 10:00 AM-3:00 PM, paid training (€150). This is the most directly useful format for a B2B audience: operational integration of generative AI into professional tasks and productivity.

Later in the year, a public conference on the philosophical implications of AI — A Philosophical Look at Artificial Intelligence, hosted by Martin Steffens — is scheduled for November 6, 2026 at Memento, Vaucluse's heritage center. A date worth watching for future updates.

French Tech Grande Provence remains the most reliable local source for upcoming announcements.

Toulon and the Var

Var Up Business Fair 2026 — September 24, 2026, Palais des Congrès Neptune. This fair brings together business leaders, freelancers and entrepreneurs from the Var around business creation and transformation. A conference directly related to AI is scheduled from 11:30 AM to 12:20 PM: "Boost your business with an AI-powered digital communication strategy," hosted by Jacques Bramardi (founder of Bexter) — content production, digital visibility and lead generation through AI. Free registration required.

Terres de Cyber 2026 — October 22, 2026, Chalucet (Beaux-Arts building). Organized by TVT Innovation with French Tech Toulon, this 6th edition is mainly dedicated to cybersecurity, with a panel on how AI is transforming cyberattacks and the protection of critical infrastructure (including undersea cables). Particularly relevant for CIOs, CISOs, and industrial or maritime players. Pricing: €15 (conference + networking cocktail), free for French Tech Toulon and TVT Innovation members.

French Tech Toulon and TVT Innovation have also announced upcoming meetups on the future of work and AI, as well as AI and audiovisual creation — dates still to be confirmed, worth watching in the coming weeks.

Nice, Sophia Antipolis and the Côte d'Azur

Nice stands out for the density of its AI research ecosystem, built around the 3IA Côte d'Azur AI Cluster.

AI Cluster 3IA Côte d'Azur Days — September 24-25, 2026. One of the region's leading scientific AI events, organized by Université Côte d'Azur: two days bringing together researchers, academic chairs, partner companies and students around recent advances in AI, technology transfer and public-private collaborations across the Sophia Antipolis-Nice area.

IA DATES — "How Will We Live in 2040?" — September 22, 2026, 6:30 PM, Palais des Rois Sardes. Organized by Institut EuropIA, this talk approaches AI from a forward-looking, societal angle: the future of work, changing lifestyles, evolving skills.

Generative AI training for small and medium businesses — October 6, 2026, 9:00 AM, CCI Nice Côte d'Azur. Hands-on training on prompting, content creation and the ethical dimensions of generative AI, aimed at business leaders, freelancers, and sales or marketing teams.

AI in the Next World of Thoracic Pathology — October 6-7, 2026. International congress on AI applied to thoracic pathology — a highly specialized event for the medical sector and clinical research, but a telling sign of AI's growing role in medical diagnostics.

EA 2026 — Evolution Artificielle — October 27-29, 2026. The 17th biennial international conference on evolutionary algorithms and computational intelligence, for a highly technical audience (researchers, R&D engineers, data scientists).

PACA Summary Table

(Marseille events are detailed above; the table below covers the full region for quick reference.)

In the end, Marseille and Nice host the two most structuring events of the season (AIM and the 3IA Côte d'Azur Days, the same weekend of September 24-25), while Avignon and Toulon offer more targeted, practical formats, and Aix-en-Provence stays connected to Marseille's agenda rather than running its own flagship AI events.

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