Joy as Kaysersberg voted favourite village

Residents gathered in a square ‘went wild with joy’ as their village was named France’s favourite on a France 2 television show.

Kaysersberg is a small village with cobbled streets in Alsace, in north-east France. It was up against 12 other villages, including La Roque-Gageac, Sant’Antonino in Corsica and Lourmarin in Provence.

The programme ‘Village préféré des Français’, presented by Stéphane Bern on television channel France 2, does an annual poll to discover the best village according to the French and announced this year’s result at 11pm on Monday, June 13.

Kaysersberg took the top spot for the warmth of its locals, its pleasant and walkable cobbled streets and impressive architecture.

Kaysersberg is known among the French for its Christmas market which sells, among other items, local produce like cheese, jam and honey.

According to a spokesperson for the village the suspense built up throughout the broadcast as votes came in by text.

“At 11pm, around 1000 people were in the square outside the church awaiting the result. When Stéphane Bern made the announcement they went wild with joy.

“Then there was a beautiful party, which lasted into the night,” said the spokesperson.

Celebrations might have something to do with the fact previous winners have seen an almost instant boost in the number of tourists and in the local economy after the show's announcement.