Barbecues

Shashlik with Russian speakers in the South of France: how it works

The community itself began with a barbecue. The chat that grew into Vibe South of France started life as the “Montpellier-Béziers BBQ trip” group, set up for a single weekend away in May 2025 and renamed two days after it. Ever since, a big shashlik has been how we open the season and how we close it.

Every trip runs the same way. Someone takes on the organising, finds a spot where a mangal (the charcoal grill shashlik is cooked on) is allowed, works out how much meat we need and posts the shared costs in the chat. Everyone chips in for the meat, the charcoal and the cook’s time, and brings salads, sweets or pickles for the shared table. People come as families: there have been children at every trip, with swings, a trampoline or a pool to keep them busy. The venues are private or run by the commune, so we send the exact address once you’ve signed up.

31 May 2025: a campsite between Montpellier and Béziers

The first trip was an overnight one. The organiser rang or wrote to at least 15 campsites, and nearly all of them said the same thing: no open fire, only a plancha, and for an extra fee. We went with the one that allowed a real mangal and threw in a pool with slides, a sauna with a jacuzzi and a beach close by.

About eighty people turned up, fifteen of them children, from Montpellier, Béziers, Toulouse and Arles. We booked 11 cabins for the weekend, and one of them became the “HQ”. A team of volunteers was still chopping salads half the night, the shashlik went on the fire in several rounds, and by morning there was so much food left that we were hunting for spare fridges. The evening had a guitar and karaoke, the morning a shared breakfast on the terrace.

24 May 2026: Shashlyndos at Saint-Just

The May outing had been in the works since February. Spots near Ganges and in Vendargues fell through: after the summer wildfires you can only grill over an open fire in places where it’s allowed. What worked was a municipal park at Saint-Just, about forty minutes from Montpellier, where a mangal was permitted in May 2026.

We picked the date by vote: the Sunday before a bank holiday Monday. On the confirmed lists a week ahead there were about 30 adults and 8 children, but many signed up by private message and brought friends and family: by the organisers’ count, more than 60 adults and more than 15 children came. A professional shashlik cook did the grilling, reckoning roughly 1 kg of raw meat per adult, half chicken and half lamb, served hot in two rounds with lavash and baguette. Adults chipped in €25 each, and under-17s came free. A violinist played for most of the day, a host ran games and fun relay races, and there was a salsa masterclass.

20 September 2026: Dacha Day with plov in a kazan

We closed the season on private grounds twenty minutes from Montpellier, with the announcement going out just three days before. Two cooks shared the fire: one grilled pork and chicken, the other made an Uzbek wedding plov with lamb in a big kazan over a live fire. Alongside came pickles, starters and a polka-dot tablecloth. We gathered at 11:00 and stayed until evening with no schedule: dancing right on the gravel, swings and a trampoline for the children, and jumping over a bar. The share was €35 per adult and €10 per child aged ten and over.

Where can you grill shashlik near Montpellier?

In short: in woodland, garrigue and maquis scrub, and within 200 metres of them, only on fitted barbecue areas. That is what the Hérault prefecture says on its page about using fire (under the arrêté of 29 April 2026, page updated 20 May 2026): for everyone except the landowners, fire is banned in these zones all year round, and grills and barbecues are allowed only on specially fitted areas - “anywhere else it is forbidden”. At your own house and on your own land these restrictions do not apply. When the fire risk is especially high, the prefect can bring in temporary bans at other times of year too.

Campsites also ban open fires more often than they allow them - we found that out by ringing round before our first trip. So we look for a place from scratch every time, check it again before we go, and the announcement always says where exactly the mangal is allowed.

How to come to the next shashlik

We announce the dates of each trip in the Vibe South of France community chat on Telegram: that’s also where you sign up, see the shared costs and get the address. You don’t need to know anyone to come, and children are welcome.

Want to run a meetup of your own? Let’s organise it together.