Winegrowers in Arbois assemble the Biou grape bunch and wreath for a harvest festival rooted in parish and civic ceremonies. A traditional grape harvest leads to pressing and a tasting of fresh must. The Biou presentation and Couronne ceremony sit alongside torchlight processions and marching bands, while museum visits, guided walks and a painting competition complete the programme.
Tag: traditional-festivals
Foire de la Mi s’tembre in Bletterans: Local Fair
Foire de la Mi s’tembre brings Bletterans’s agricultural fair traditions together with a parade accompanied by bands and a fireworks display. Competitions feature Franche-Comté farmhouse cheeses and cooked Bresse poultry, while the Desnes Co-operative demonstrates Comté wheel production. Bobbin lace, gold embroidery and paintings are exhibited alongside a programme of local writers and vintage cars.
Lentil Green Festival in Vatan: Taste & Celebrate
Vatan’s Fête de la lentille verte du Berry puts the region’s emblematic green lentil at the centre of public life. Tastings allow visitors to understand its culinary character, while new-crop sales create direct contact with the people who cultivate and prepare it. A farmers’ and crafts market broadens the celebration to other local products and forms of making, giving the festival a strong rural economy dimension. Street music and parade floats carry the subject beyond the stalls and into the town, joining food culture with collective spectacle. Jérôme Maugis contributes a stage show devoted to Patrick Bruel, adding a familiar popular-music reference to the programme. The festival’s identity remains grounded in the lentil itself: a Berry product encountered through taste, knowledge, trade and the community that celebrates its harvest.
Fêtes Franco-Écossaises in Aubigny-sur-Nère: Scottish Celebre
Aubigny-sur-Nère’s Fêtes Franco-Écossaises celebrates the town’s historical relationship with Scotland. Scottish clans, pipe bands, a Grand Tattoo and a parade take part in the gathering. Ceremonies at the Auld Alliance monument and the French Pipe Band Championships connect the musical programme with the Stuart town’s shared heritage.