Wild plants gathered in the Brenne become the material for hoop-based basketry with Frédérique Ardibus. The course starts outdoors with collecting, then moves into successive sessions of weaving and making. Organised by the regional natural park, the small-group activity follows the craft from raw vegetation to a formed object, with all sessions forming one learning sequence.
Tag: craft-demonstrations
Briare’s Turbines: Canal Engineering and Old Trades
The turbine workshop reveals the machinery behind Briare’s canal heritage on a guided visit devoted to its technical and human history. Exhibitions and demonstrations introduce trades once associated with this working landscape. Traditional boat towing and music broaden the programme, connecting engineering with the labour and practices that kept waterborne life moving.
Tour de Vesvre: Medieval Heritage and Craft Skills
Successive layers of occupation can be followed through the medieval complex of the Tour de Vesvre. Self-guided visits introduce the site’s history and development, while exhibitions add context to its surviving fabric. Craft demonstrations and exchanges with heritage enthusiasts bring people and practical skills into the encounter with this fortified past.
Tigy: Beekeeping and a Bootmaker’s Craft
Bees and leatherwork share the programme at Tigy’s Musée de l’Artisanat Rural Ancien. Annick Thais explains beekeeping techniques and the life of bees, while shoemaker and bootmaker Johnny Piot demonstrates shoe assembly and leather sewing. His Compagnon du Devoir et du Tour de France background gives a precise craft context to the handwork shown during this rural heritage gathering.
Heritage Days in Coeur du Jura
Across Arbois, Poligny and Salins-les-Bains, heritage visits link salt-making, Comté and the life of Louis Pasteur. The programme ranges from the Grande Saline’s underground gallery to cheese dairies and Poligny’s ramparts. Lithography introductions, stained-glass demonstrations and encounters with heritage specialists bring working skills into the picture, alongside concerts and theatre.
Fête d’Automne at Argol
Fête d’Automne turns the Musée vivant des vieux métiers in Argol into a working catalogue of rural know-how. Demonstrations range from blacksmithing, woodturning and basketry to linen, hemp, embroidery, butter making, apple pressing and bread baked over fire. Breton dance and domestic scenes in Ty Coz keep the crafts tied to everyday memory on the Crozon peninsula.
La Foire aux chevaux à l’ancienne
La Foire aux chevaux à l’ancienne keeps Carhaix-Plouguer’s equestrian culture in public view through Breton riding horses, draft horses and young stock. Farriery demonstrations and maneuverability contests show the practical skills behind rural horse work. Food stalls and gathering customs give the fair the feel of a central Brittany meeting place shaped by animal breeding, craft and market memory.
European Heritage Days in Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier
European Heritage Days opens the windmill at Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier for guided visits about its history and restoration. The programme explains the mechanism, millstone operation and the miller’s working life, alongside the miller’s house, washhouse and bread oven. Bakers make bread and pastries in the wood-fired oven on site, with local producers and craftspeople at a small market.
Journées Européennes du Patrimoine in Roscoff: Heritage Exc阅
Roscoff opens its maritime heritage through the historic sailing boat Le Mondara Mad and exhibitions about the port. Notre-Dame de Croaz Batz and the lighthouse are among the buildings to explore, alongside drawings of historic houses. Craft demonstrations, games with C’hoarioù Kilhou and a performance by Korollerien Montroulez bring Breton skills and dance into the wider programme.
Tonnellerie Lefloc’h Tour in Lannion: Barrel Crafting
Tonnellerie Lefloc’h opens Benjamin Lefloc’h’s Lannion workshop to visitors interested in Breton barrel-making. The tour follows noble wood from selection through shaping and assembly into barrels for cider, wine and eaux-de-vie. Demonstrations, decorative pieces and sustainably managed timber reveal a rare regional craft where ancestral gestures serve contemporary producers.