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.
Topic: events
Sorcière, de l’ombre à la lumière par Avel Douar
The figure at the centre is the Breton witch, followed from Naïa to the women of today. Avel Douar, the cercle celtique that performs it, sets that passage to dance and music together. The route of the piece runs through ancient beliefs, then nature, then modernity, so the sorceress emerges as a thread in Breton belief and never as a seasonal costume. It is staged in the town hall of Saint-Malo-de-Beignon and is open to all ages.
L’Abri des Temps: a village bookshop at Moncontour
L’Abri des Temps is a general bookshop at Moncontour, open for the Semaines du Tourisme Économique et des Savoir-Faire. Its booksellers walk visitors through the premises and the way the shop is run. The stock mixes new and second-hand, with shelves built up in sciences humaines, nature, jardin and paysage, and a choice shaped by rural life, traditions and history. What the hour turns on is how that holds in a village of 800.
Il était une fois Bon-Repos, balade contée à l’abbaye
A told walk through the Abbaye de Bon-Repos, run by the Association des Compagnons de l’Abbaye de Bon-Repos. A story, a sound and a making moment carry the house’s own history into the dark. The senses do the work, not a commentary, and families with young children are who it is built for. The walk sits inside Les Minutes Bleues, the festival that opens the Côtes d’Armor’s natural and cultural high places under blue light at dawn and dusk.
Tout est bon dans Le Breton !, a bigoudène duel
Maiween and Marie-Yvonne are billed as the last two bigoudènes of their region, and they are fighting over the right to carry l’esprit bigouden to the ONU. The Comédie du Finistère sets the quarrel on the small port of Guilvinec, where the pair feed Kouign-Amann to the gulls. It gets settled by contests: the sturdiest crêpe, a Gavotte danced in the Fest-Noz, the biggest haul of bigorneaux. The company signs the result a comédie armoricaine.
Danses bretonnes pour enfants avec Danserien Sant Ke
Danserien Sant Ke is the cercle de danse bretonne of Saint-Quay-Portrieux, and it opens its practice to the youngest beginners. The cercle’s own members lead the figures, so children pick up the steps from the people who perform them. It is held in the Salle le Celtic, where the cercle also holds its galette des rois. Admission costs nothing and places are held by reservation. The same cercle runs the Festival Eskemm.
Planc’h: a Workshop Visit to Breton Cutting Boards
Planc’h is a Saint-Briac-sur-Mer workshop where cutting boards and butcher’s blocks are shaped by hand from Breton timber. The visit follows that work at the bench, and the makers explain how they pick a plank and how each species behaves. Their wood comes from a family sawmill at Plouër-sur-Rance. The visit belongs to Les Semaines du Tourisme Économique des Savoir-Faire, the Breton fortnight that opens working businesses to the public.
Perros Jazz Festival: BLAZ at the Café Breton
The duo Blaz plays a dinner-show at the Café Breton for the Perros-Guirec Jazz Festival. David Hopkins and Clément Vallin work from original compositions between jazz, world music and contemporary sound. Improvisation carries the set: percussion, bass and samples build groove and dance rhythms close to trance. The café cooks its own food; a 10 € artistic contribution per person helps compensate the artists and support a festival dedicated to traditional music.
Kayak à la tombée de la nuit sur le Guic
Dusk sets the hour for this descent of the Guic, the river presented as emblematic of Belle-Isle-en-Terre. Paddlers follow the water downstream with the sounds of the valley around them, watching for wildlife as the evening light settles on the banks. Guiding comes from the Aquarium des Curieux de Nature, the commune’s nature interpretation centre, together with the Station Sports Nature. Les Minutes Bleues, now in its fifth edition, places the outing among the dusk slots it opens across heritage sites of the Côtes d’Armor, from age six with an adult and from twelve alone; booking is strongly advised.
Visite des huîtres Le Cha on the Aber-Wrac’h
Hollow oysters raised in the Baie des Anges, beside the port of the Aber-Wrac’h, are the subject of this visit to the Le Cha oyster yard. The tour sets out how those cupped oysters are brought on, and a tasting follows on site. The farm also keeps a shop for oysters to take away, an oyster bar and a vending machine. It runs within the Economic Tourism and Craftsmanship Weeks, with the takings from the tickets going to the Brittany Heritage Foundation.