Geocaching HQ Lackeys attend dozens of Mega and Giga-Events around the world, shaking hands, sharing stories of adventure, and of course, geocaching! Gminer1105 (Genevieve) is a Marketing Manager at Geocaching HQ. She recently traveled to France to attend Au blason ! (GCB89NQ).
On May 16, 2026, the grounds of Abbaye de Vaucelles, a historic restored Cistercian abbey in the Cambrésis region of northern France, became the setting for a medieval-themed geocaching bash. Hundreds of geocachers traveled to the abbey and filled its high vaulted ceilings with good cheer as they geocached, explored the historic site, and met friends old and new.
The day of the event was packed with activities for attendees to enjoy both in and outside of the abbey. Inside the main room of the awe-inspiring building, cachers discovered trackables, found Adventures, and chatted with friends. Wandering into other spaces in the abbey revealed even more.
For example, I was thrilled to find that the event organizers brought a stained glass artist to the event to create an artwork commemorating the medieval-themed weekend. Each glass square of the artwork had a space for geocachers to sign their username and literally add their signature to the piece.
Outside of the building, geocachers roamed the abbey’s beautiful green spaces solving puzzles, and finding geocaches and more Adventures. Thanks to a lot of coordination and effort from the event organizers, local cachers, the GéHautsCaching organization, and the local tourism agency, geocachers had many new geocaches and Adventures to search for and find at the abbey and in surrounding towns.
In addition to the new caches for the event, the weekend coincided with the launch of a new GeoTour in Cambrésis. The creativity and thoughtfulness of all the new hides really stood out.
The event organizers also hosted an evening event a couple hours after the Mega-Event ended. The abbey transformed again into an elegant medieval dining hall. Geocachers settled into seats at long tables to enjoy a meal while a live band played music and gave the medieval evening a modern twist. The sun sank low in the sky and the fun continued as cachers went outside to find stages of nighttime Adventures published for the event.
Thank you so much to all the event organizers and volunteers who made this Mega-Event so special. It was a pleasure to attend, and I am grateful to everyone involved for putting together such an incredible celebration of geocaching and the Cambrésis region.
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