Meeting with Friends and the Festival Interceltique de Lorient
7 August 2023 – Lorient, France
Bélon is a little ways into a river with lots of current, and we were told to call ahead to get help with mooring. It was a good thing we did, because the moorings were massive and had no line coming off them to pick up. We were moored at the bow and stern at the side of the channel with the help of the port’s dinghy. Our friends Elizabeth, Noël, and their dog Miss live nearby, and they picked us up in their car and drove us to the Gaugin art museum in Pont Aven. The exhibit on the Gaugan school of art was interesting, but I was even more interested by the visiting exhibit on travelling women artists.
Pont Aven, France
The next morning, Elizabeth drove us to a local market, where we bought so much fruit and vegetables, as well as buckets of cheese.
Market near Pont Aven, France
The Festival Interceltique de Lorient, an international Celtic festival hosted by the city of Lorient, is on from August 4-13, and we were lucky enough to be in Lorient for the first few days. At the festival, over 5,000 performers sing, dance, and play music in the traditional Celtic style. The participating nations include Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man, Galicia, Asturias, and Brittany.
The festival was amazing to see. There is a marina right in the centre of it, but we decided to stay a bit outside Lorient because of the crowds and noise. We then took a bus or ferry to see the festival. During the day, we walked around and watched different singers and pipe bands perform, and in the evening we had tickets to Horizons Celtiques, taking place inside a football stadium. That was my favourite part of the festival. It opened with a huge Breton pipe band playing music, followed by an Irish band and tap-dancing. For the next few hours, various musicians and dancers performed the traditional music and dance of their region, also wearing their traditional clothing. There were two giant balloon-puppets that were on the stage as the MCs, as well as lots of different lights shining patterns onto the performances. At the end, all of the performers came out to play a song together and it looked like there was an entire army onstage.
Horizons Celtiques, Festival Interceltique de Lorient
Horizons Celtiques, Festival Interceltique de Lorient
Once it was over, around midnight, we hurried to get the bus back to the boat. Unfortunately, everyone else in the stadium had the same idea and when we got to the bus stop, it was packed. My dad managed to drag everyone onto the next bus, but then he panicked that we were on the wrong bus so we got off at the next stop. It turns out that was the right bus, and my dad panicked a bit more that we were stranded until the next bus came and we managed to squeeze on.
A parade took place the following morning, so we headed back to Lorient (we took the dinghy in this time) and sat by the side of the street to watch some of last night’s performers, as well as many local Breton pipe bands and other Celtic bands and dancers up close.
Parade, Festival Interceltique de Lorient
Parade, Festival Interceltique de Lorient
My mom and I decided to stay at the festival for the afternoon, and we wandered around and saw more songs and dances. Jonas took so many videos over the past few days, so some of them are below.
