Last Saturday I again took the train west to Brittany, this time not to Dinan but to Redon a town of similar size located in southern Brittany. Each year, Redon holds a month-long celebration called the Mois du Marron (Month of the Chestnut) during which all sorts of concerts and festivities are held. Chestnut month ends with La Bogue d'Or (the Golden Husk), which is a music and dance festival held along the port. I had seen the posters advertising the festival last year while teaching in Dinan, but never had the opportunity to go. It was Béatrice who reminded me about the festival this year, so we agreed to go together.
Béatrice arrived Friday evening for the big Fest-Noz being held that weekend. Unfortunately, I couldn't leave until Saturday because of work but
as it turned out there was no lack of dancing the rest of the weekend.
Béatrice met me at the train station at 2pm and we walked to the center
of town where a huge outdoor market was taking place. There were stands
selling clothes, crafts, and regional products galore but the best part
was the covered market, where food stands gave out samples of their
products, many featuring chestnuts as a main ingredient. There were
little chestnut pancakes, chestnut bread, boudin noir with chestnuts,
pâtés, even chestnut beer. Béatrice and I bought a couple of
galette-saucisse (a buckwheat crêpe wrapped around a grilled sausage) and then proceeded to the port.
A view of the crowds of people heading towards the end of the port, where tents and music were located.
Redon is located between the rivers Oust to the west and Vilaine to the
east, which come together at Redon's southern point. The town's small
port is located on the Vilaine, and for the occasion was filled with
old-fashioned sailboats with the traditional salmon-colored sails.
Sailors traditionally wore similarly-colored
vareuses, or stiff cotton work-shirts free of buttons or clasps that could get caught on nets, ropes or lines while fishing. Below you can see some people wearing vareuses in the boat on the left. On the right, a group of Galician women sing traditional songs in high-pitched voices while playing the tambourine. Each year the Festival invites bands from other parts of the world to mix in with the Breton music. This year there was also a Bulgarian band.
Gotta have a figurehead!
There were music contests for all ages. Here, a group of 3 little girls, aged maybe 4-9 skillfully leads a dance Sunday evening. They didn't miss a beat.
Béatrice and I danced all weekend. We had a blast. The tents were so full of people that it was hard to move around. Dancing the polka was the equivalent of a Breton mosh-pit, what with all the couples twirling and hurling into each other. It was heartwarming to be surrounded by so many happy people, though. As much as I hate squishing into a metro at 9am rush-hour in Paris, it was a pleasure to danced, locked arm-in-arm, with so many enthusiastic dancers.
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| Photo taken by the newspaper "Ouest France". |
