One of the big events of the month of June is the brassbands festival. The 19th festival was organized on the 13th-14th on the watchwords "Bouge tes hAnches": Move your hips (hanches)/reeds (anches). Can one call "festival" a one-day event? Following wikipédia (french version), no. Funny... our friend Wiki explains that the France adopted in the first part of the 19th C. the word "festival"... it came from England, but England had received it from the ancient french. To say the truth, of course, it came from latin (festivus: joyful). Yet, let's admit it: the english language received MANY french words and received latin mainly through french people. It is extremely shocking that the Wikipedia page on the influence of french language on english language only exists in... french. England has been a french fief during several centuries and owes its "independance" to a french princess (the french she-wolf) married to an english king, who might have commanded the assassination of her husband but wanted her son to reign on both territories, as the heir of his grandfather (Philipp the Handsome of Philipp the Counterfeiter). We lost the art of nicknaming.
The french page is here.
For lazy people: custard, butler, custom, heir, mariage, summon, parliament, chef, franchise, cater, pay, purchase, rental, debt, affair, bargain, aunt, chamber, curtain, blanket, chair, cushion, towel, closet, pantry, bacon, cabbage, toast, crust, stew, grape, cattle, cauldron, carott, atire, gown, restaurant, petticoat, luxe, catch, canvas, proud, foreign, very, solace, scorn, grief, guile, kennel, faint, eager, challenge, change, chapel, choice, mischief, achieve...
Back to the point...
Our brassband festival, following the years, lasted 2 or 3 days, but Friday is a kind of rehearsal, and on Sunday (when there is a Sunday), most musicians and listeners take care of their hangover in bed, or of their suntan on the beach. The big moment is Satursday evening. The bands start to play here and there, or present themselves successively, for a familial audience; but on the evening cars are banned from the streets, temporary bars and first-aid posts appear, people drink beer, wine AND pastis, and each band plays 4 hours... It is festive but ends sadly, as most of the real parties.
The bands are great.
Two local bands (the Kadors and the Fanfare Bakchish), and a band from Lyon (Pustule), are here from festival to festival, perfect models for the youngests - but Les Muses tanguent and several others are also well-trained. Amongst the young guests, there always are some students getting badly drunk before the big evening, and some innovative artists - as the Express brass band (Munich) this year. Each band has a dress-code, as well as the organizers (mostly smiling, retired mustache bearers this year as far as I saw), the waiters and waitresses. It is very funny and sympathical, as far as you aren't afraid of the crowd, of the leftists (street art amateurs, teachers, etc.). My parents are afraid of them. I could have spent the night out freely, they kept my sugar-plum far from this deafening music... and I would have been deaf to their blames. I'm stupidly honest and good-willing.
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