The Bagad Bro Konk Kerne has carried the Breton pipe-band repertoire for four decades, and marks the anniversary with a fest-noz at Melgven. Its Bagadig and its Pipe-Band open the hall before the dancing. The Hamon-Martin Quintet, Blue Glaz and Kaféhin then take the stand, with the singers Irvoas and Flouret and the piper pairs Henaff/Meunier and Carrer/Perennou. A parquet is laid for dancers, and the bar serves crêpes and galettes-saucisses.
Tag: traditional-gatherings
Fest Noz with Carré Manchot and Sterne, Plédran
Carré Manchot has been playing Festoû-Noz for forty years and brings a wooden transverse flute, accordion, guitar and Armel An Hejer’s voice to Plédran. Sterne arrives from Saint-Cast with bombarde, biniou and bourdon behind violin, folk guitar and its own singing. The duo Le Bour Bodros answers with Timothée Le Bour’s saxophones against Youen Bodros’s accordion. Three sets, one dance floor, in the hall’s own season.
Fest noz with Kelt Ha Breizh at l’île aux oiseaux
A fest noz comes to l’île aux oiseaux at Corn Er Pont, in Guern, with Kelt Ha Breizh playing for the dancers. The evening marks the fourth anniversary of L’École aux Oiseaux, and it departs from the venue’s usual concert format: the floor goes to dancers, not to an audience in seats. Kelt Ha Breizh carry the dance music in two sets. A shared meal of chicken supreme, fries and salad opens it, and places are taken by reservation.
Bal Basque Fest Noz au festival Dispar Amzer
Gavottes and andros fill the hall at Douarnenez, answered by dances from the Basque Country. Two Breton singing pairs carry the kan-ha-diskan, Diridollou with Lavigne and Quéré with Le Menn, while Bilaka Kolektiboa brings the Basque dance. Txistu, xirula, gaita and alboka sound against harp, bassoon and bombarde. Dixit sings with Morgane Gregory, Klervi Piel and Sterenn Toscer. The bal is one night of Festival Dispar Amzer at Place des Halles.
Sonerien Du ouvre le Festival Presqu’île Breizh
The Festival Presqu’île Breizh opens with a concert by Sonerien Du at the Espace Louison Bobet in Quiberon. The band plays the repertoire that fest-noz dancers follow, so the floor matters more than the seats. Over three days the festival spreads across Quiberon and the neighbouring communes, with some thirty spectacles and hundreds of dancers and musicians. A grande parade celtique sets off from the same hall.
Fête automnale des Amis du Monde à Meneham
Les Amis du Monde de Kerlouan gather in the heart of Meneham for their autumn fete. The afternoon is a fest-deiz, danced in daylight to a traditional music group. Pumpkin soup, sausage galettes and crêpes come out of the kitchen beside a refreshment stand. Meneham is the village the association works in, and the Côte des Légendes office opens the site this season for lantern-lit visits, giant werewolves and Ar vro Bagan’s pirate play.
Autumn fest-noz for Patrick Galopin, Plouezoc’h
Plouezoc’h holds its autumn fest-noz in honour of Patrick Galopin, and the bill is built the way a fest-noz is built: soneri and kaneri, the pipers and the singers whose playing the dancing follows. The Maison des Associations fills with dancers in sets, behind whichever couple is on. Crêpes go out on site through the evening. The tribute is to a musician the commune knew, which makes this a local gathering and not a programmed concert.
Fest-noz des 25 ans de Skol ar Yezhoù, à Pabu
The parents of Skol ar Yezhoù, the bilingual school at Pabu, hold their fest-noz for the school’s twenty-fifth year. Four sets share the night. BLUE GLAZ brings five women singers of the Breton scene, and KERLOA a trio of the Goëlo that sets treujenn-gaol beside accordion and guitar. MARTIN / PINC play violin and accordion; GEORGELIN / BARBIER answer on bombarde and biniou, for the dancers. The schoolchildren take their part too.
Fest-deiz au Danouët, Bourbriac
A fest-deiz is an afternoon of dancing, run here by the association restoring the chapelle Notre-Dame du Danouët. An open stage gives the floor to local players, among them the Musiciens du Danouët, and a jam open to any musician closes the day. The repertoire is the plinn, the dance that names the hamlet’s own festival. The associations behind that festival take the afternoons in turn, from the Cavan sound centre to the Guingamp hospitaliers.
Fest-noz à Taupont with Les Beurbis Gallèzes
Taupont, inland Morbihan, gives its salle Lenivel over to a fest-noz, the Breton dance evening where the music is played for the dancers. Three bands follow one another on the bill: Les Beurbis Gallèzes, Harold Kotri and Ferzae. The programme is the traditional repertoire that carries Breton dances, sung as well as played. The organisers put the invitation plainly: come and dance, sing and share a moment of conviviality.