The guide opens at the Abbaye du Relec while there is still light enough to pick out the detail of the site, and sets out its history. The atmosphere shifts once night has fallen. By candlelight the walk becomes a veillée, and the légendes bretonnes take over from the history. The stories told in the dark are the lugubrious ones of Brittany, recounted on the departmental estate at Plounéour-Ménez for anyone from eight upwards.
Tag: oral-traditions
Exhibition « Le fest-noz s’affiche »
A fest-noz poster is first an announcement and then a keepsake of a night already past. The exhibition asks what such a poster is for, what it can do visually, and where it turns up: billboards, bus shelters, EDF transformers, the rear window of a car. It also sets out a short history of the fest-noz, carried on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Ti ar Vro Treger-Goueloé and Dastum Bro-dreger are partners in it.
Du Val sans Retour au Graal avec Ozégan
Ozégan leads this balade contée out of Tréhorenteuc into the Val sans Retour, the valley at the heart of Brécéliande that Breton legend gives to Morgane la fée. Tales of the Golden Tree, the Fairy Mirror Pond, the Rock of False Lovers and Merlin’s Seat are told along the way, legends of this mysterious forest. The Chapelle du Graal ends the route, a mythical and mystical place whose uniqueness in the world the storyteller explains on the spot. His bag of tricks, tales and music honours the beauty and magic of life, played on unusual instruments, some of them medieval reconstructions.
La Bogue d’Or: Breton Song and Fest-Noz in Redon
Redon gives three days to the sung and spoken tradition of its own country. Competitors take on the concours chant à danser, the unaccompanied repertoire that drives a fest-noz, and the Finale chant settles it at the Canal Théâtre. Tellers trade tall tales in the Concours de Contes et Menteries and sung ripostes in the Joute Contée & Chantée. Fest-deiz afternoons, concours musicaux and open stages fill Le Carré 9 between rounds.
Festival Altistoria
Altistoria brings regional history into lectures, round tables, exhibitions and a literary fair. Subjects range from Saint-Chaffre abbey and the unfinished Transcévenole railway to refugees and Resistance figures in Haute-Loire. A session examines three centuries of lace-making in Velay. Archive readings, author encounters and an evening of old tales complete the programme.
Jeu de piste de Pierrelatte
This trail for children aged six to twelve uses the local legend of Gargantua to introduce Pierrelatte’s heritage. The story tells of a stone removed from the giant’s boot and thrown onto the future town’s site. He also loses an object for participants to recover. Following clues through the centre reveals a word that helps solve the puzzle; the game is free.
Mythes et légendes locales in Gannat
Mythes et légendes locales examines the unsettling stories associated with Gannat’s heritage in a historical talk. Fantastical tales and local mysteries form the subject of this Halloween-themed programme. Admission is free, but the talk is intended for listeners aged sixteen and over because of its frightening content.
Trali-Vari at Amies Voix in Mondoubleau
Magda Lena Gorska and Serge Tamas bring Trali-Vari to Amies Voix in Mondoubleau. Storytelling is accompanied by guitar and percussion. Their tales follow a tree that grows back after being cut and a young goat that was once a boy. The departmental media library presents this encounter with Slavic and Creole oral traditions. The performance welcomes audiences aged five and above.
Beauce legends with Sandie Chapiseau
Sandie Chapiseau leads a nocturnal storytelling walk through Chartres. Dressed as a witch, she shares Beauce legends passed down through generations. The route follows the city’s narrow streets and the banks of the Eure. Mischievous devils, talking animals and buried treasures populate the tales. These popular stories bring the region’s oral traditions into the streets of Chartres.
Amies Voix : contes slaves et créoles à Villebarou
Magda Lena Gorska and Serge Tamas bring Trali-Vari to the village library as part of Amies Voix, the storytelling festival run by the Médiathèque départementale de Loir-et-Cher. Guitar and percussion carry Russian and Creole folktales. Audience members follow a tree that grows back as soon as it is cut down, a fawn who was once a boy and the song of a turtle. Families with children from five upwards are welcome, and seats are best reserved.