On November 29 and 30, 2026, Paris will welcome the first edition of the Positive Mayo Festival, bringing together chefs, pastry chefs, restaurateurs and charitable organisations around a shared conviction: the influence of a chef can extend far beyond the restaurant. Taking place at Le Lumière in the 12th arrondissement, the event will explore how culinary professionals contribute to society through education, inclusion, environmental protection and the transmission of knowledge.
Among those taking part are Régis Marcon, Amandine Chaignot, Jorick Dorignac, Léa Linster and Aurélien Gransagne, each involved in initiatives reflecting a personal understanding of responsibility. Over two days, their commitments will become the starting point for conversations, culinary demonstrations and encounters with the organisations they support.
Behind the festival is Catherine Guérin, whose career has been closely associated with international gastronomy for more than thirty years. Through Toques Connection and her role as Secretary General of the Bocuse d’Or Winners association since 2000, she has worked alongside generations of chefs whose professional achievements have often been accompanied by commitments less visible to the public.
In 2023, she began reconsidering the direction of her own work, observing how frequently chefs and hospitality professionals supported charitable causes without necessarily attracting much attention. That reflection led her to create Positive Mayo in 2024, a platform dedicated to sharing these stories and connecting culinary professionals with the organisations they choose to support.
Positive Mayo has developed around the idea that sharing examples of meaningful engagement can encourage others to become involved. Its approach favours practical initiatives and individual experiences, while creating opportunities for chefs, charities, businesses and the public to meet. The festival brings that ambition into a physical space where visitors can discover the people behind these commitments and consider how they might contribute themselves.
Régis Marcon, patron of the festival, has long supported Agir pour le Cambodge alongside his wife Michèle and their family. The organisation operates Sala Baï, a hospitality school in Siem Reap that provides free training to 150 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds each year, at least 70% of whom are girls. The programme covers accommodation, meals, education and professional experience, helping students gain access to careers in hospitality.
Education also lies at the heart of Amandine Chaignot’s engagement with Vision du Monde, an organisation working to protect children’s rights and improve access to education, particularly for girls. Léa Linster, the Luxembourgish chef who became the first woman to win the Bocuse d’Or in 1989, supports nestwärme, which accompanies families whose children are seriously ill or living with disabilities.
As an ambassador for the organisation’s activities in Luxembourg and Austria, Linster helps draw attention to the importance of support and respite for families facing difficult circumstances. She will also chair the jury of Les Desserts Mémoires, an amateur competition inviting participants to recreate a dessert associated with their childhood, family or cultural heritage.
Jorick Dorignac, winner of Top Chef 2024 and Executive Chef of Maisons Le Quellec, will take part in a culinary demonstration supporting Les Cahutes de Louise. Founded by Camille Verduzier in memory of her daughter, the organisation provides free respite stays for children and young adults living with serious or chronic illnesses, together with their families.
Aurélien Gransagne, Executive Chef of the two-Michelin-starred Serge Vieira restaurant, supports Serge Vieira For Ever, an association created following the chef’s death in 2023. Led by Marie-Aude Vieira, it continues his commitment to supporting young culinary talents from disadvantaged backgrounds while contributing to cancer research. Its initiatives include educational opportunities for young Mauritian students and the project 100 Chefs contre le cancer.
The festival will also address subjects that remain difficult within professional kitchens. Thomas Boutin, drawing on his personal experience of overcoming addiction, works with Addict’Aide to raise awareness and encourage prevention within the restaurant industry. Josselin Marie, chef of La Table de Colette in Paris, combines environmentally responsible cooking with his involvement in Bon pour le Climat and Bondir.e, an organisation working to prevent violence in the restaurant sector.
Grégory Cuilleron continues his work on disability inclusion through Handicap International and 2 P’tits Pas pour Demain. These different initiatives reveal how the responsibilities of hospitality extend to the wellbeing and dignity of the people who work within the profession, as well as those whose lives chefs can help improve.
Environmental questions will occupy an equally important place. Eulalie Rus, Meilleure Ouvrière de France in fishmongering and patroness of the festival, works alongside Ethic Ocean to encourage responsible seafood sourcing and the preservation of marine biodiversity. Julien Cantenot, founder of Atelier P1 in Paris, promotes artisanal breadmaking through organic cereals, natural fermentation and a commitment to producers, while supporting educational opportunities through the Fonds La Panière.
Hugo Chaise, a specialist in fermentation and founder of My Fermentation, shares his knowledge of sustainable food practices and supports initiatives connected to the Chef’s Manifesto. Their work illustrates how environmental responsibility can influence daily decisions, from the ingredients selected to the knowledge passed on to future generations.
Throughout the two days, visitors will be able to attend culinary demonstrations followed by tastings, participate in workshops and meet representatives of the participating organisations. Activities will include the Fresque de la Restauration, a collaborative workshop examining the environmental and social challenges facing the industry, alongside first-aid awareness sessions organised with Protection Civile and the Maîtres Cuisiniers de France.
The festival will also explore cooking and disability inclusion, food waste reduction and opportunities for chefs and associations to develop new partnerships. Its programme has been designed to make these subjects accessible to professionals and the wider public.
The first edition will conclude on November 30 with the Positive Mayo Awards, recognising two partnerships between chefs and charitable organisations. One will be selected through a public online vote, while the other will receive a special distinction from Green Care Professional, a longstanding partner of Positive Mayo. Both organisations will receive financial support.
For Catherine Guérin, the festival brings together relationships developed over decades in gastronomy and a growing desire to give greater visibility to the causes that chefs already support. Its significance may lie in the connections that continue after the event, when a meeting leads to a collaboration or a professional discovers a cause that speaks to their own experience.
Positive Mayo begins with the belief that the restaurant profession possesses an unusual capacity to bring people together. In Paris this November, that capacity will be directed towards the people and organisations working to make a difference.
Festival Positive Mayo – November 29-30, 2026
Le Lumière, 40 Avenue des Terroirs de France, 75012 Paris
Free admission – 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM