| Cournonterral | |
| Commune Status: | Commune |
| Coordinates: | 43.5589°N 3.72°W |
| Arrondissement: | Montpellier |
| Intercommunality: | Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole |
| Mayor: | William Ars[1] |
| Term: | 2020 - 2026 |
| Elevation Min M: | 29 |
| Elevation Max M: | 320 |
| Area Km2: | 28.62 |
| Insee: | 34088 |
| Postal Code: | 34660 |
| Image Coat Of Arms: | Blason ville fr Cournonterral (Hérault).svg |
| Canton: | Pignan |
| Demonym: | Cournonterralais |
Cournonterral (in French pronounced as /kuʁnɔ̃tɛʁal/; Occitan (post 1500);: Cornonterralh) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France.
Residents are known as Cournonterralais.
The town is known for an annual festival known as Pailhasses. The festival has taken place in Cournonterral every Ash Wednesday since 1346. In that year, residents held off rivals from their neighbouring village of Aumelashttps://web.archive.org/web/20070927051851/http://www.ot-montpellier.fr/_objets/docs/montpellier-discovery-guide-333.pdf, thus putting an end to a long dispute over gathering firewood. Since that time, Cournonterral residents have relived the event every year. The Paillasses (people in straw-stuffed tops) chase the "white men" through the streets of the town with old rags and tissue soaked in wine sediment.
A fictionalized version of the Pailhasses is presented in Agnès Varda's film "Vagabond".