The fest-noz, the beating heart of Breton culture
It's the place where Breton culture is lived and passed on. An expression of their love of festivities, music and dance, the fest-noz ("night party" in Breton) plays a major role in the Bretons' sense of belonging. For visitors, it offers an authentic experience, a joyous opportunity to immerse themselves in the heart of regional culture. These very popular balls bring generations together in a warm atmosphere, driven by the communion of group dancing. Beginners can learn the steps on the job, under the guidance of experienced dancers (although, we warn you, you may come across experienced dancers who are a little less patient).
With its frenzied rounds and haunting music, the fest-noz evokes an ancestral ritual of collective trance. In fact, it's a modern invention: the very first festoù-noz took place in the mid-1950s in Poullaouen, central Brittany, on the initiative of a certain Loeiz Ropars. The teacher, a lover of Breton culture, aimed to revive the atmosphere of the country festivals that used to mark the end of harvests, harvests and other collective farm chores.
Fest-noz combines these ancient rural festivities with the modern ball: singers and musicians are no longer among the dancers, but on stage, with sound. Participation is no longer reserved for a select circle: admission, though paying, is open to all, and the event is widely advertised. Success was immediate, and the fest-noz quickly spread throughout the region and among the diaspora, at a time of post-war Breton cultural " revival ". In 2012, fest-noz was even included on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Today, fest-noz is not only the principal means of transmitting the Breton repertoire of traditional dances and music, but also the stage for its tremendous renewal: it serves as a springboard for the vibrant Breton music scene. The inescapable biniou-bombarde duo and the ancestral kan ha diskan, that fascinating tuilé song, still have their place. But you can also dance to tunes tinged with punk-rock, jazz, world music, electro or even hip-hop... Breton music has succeeded in integrating contemporary instruments and styles.
Every year, over 1,000 festoù-noz and festoù-deiz (the daytime version) are organized. Among the most renowned, the Yaouank festival in Rennes attracts some 10,000 dancers in November, making it the biggest fest-noz in Brittany. At the Festival de Cornouaille in Quimper in July, as well as the Interceltique in Lorient and the Saint-Loup in Guingamp in August, you can follow an initiation course during the day, before joining in the dancing in the evening. There's also the Freiz'noz in Plougastel in early January, the Printemps de Châteauneuf in Châteauneuf-du-Faou, where you can dance the night away on Easter Sunday, the Nuit de la gavotte in Poullaouen in September, Meliaj in Saint-Brieuc in June and the New Year's Eve fest-noz in Caudan.
Regional emblems
Bretons like to display their identity through a number of regional emblems. Today, the most popular is undoubtedly the Gwenn ha du (literally "black and white") flag, waved at festivals, demonstrations and matches. Created in 1923 by Breton autonomist Morvan Marchal, it has lost its protest value to become a mark of attachment. It's made up of four white stripes, for the four historic countries that make up Basse-Bretagne, and five black stripes, for those of Haute-Bretagne. In the upper left-hand corner are eleven black ermines, another regional emblem adopted by the Dukes of Brittany in the Middle Ages.
The triskel, an ancient Celtic symbol, is formed of three spiraling branches, representing water, earth and fire. Made popular by the Seiz Breur movement in the early 20th century, it was also adopted by Alan Stivell and cultural revival artists from the 1970s onwards. It can be found in religious art, rustic furniture and jewelry.
Brittany also has its own anthem, albeit an unofficial one: Bro gozh ma zadou ("Old country of my fathers") is a transposition of the Welsh national anthem. It is increasingly played at sporting events, before matches for Stade Rennais or Rugby Club de Vannes, for example. It has been the subject of numerous cover versions, from Tri Yann to Nolwenn Leroy and Alan Stivell.
In the 21st century, Breton symbols are also digital: a contraction of Breizh, the Breton name for Brittany, the hashtag #bzh is the rallying sign of the Breton community on social networks. After obtaining the .bzh extension for domain names, this community is now defending the creation of a Gwenn ha du emoji.
Forgiveness, an expression of the Breton faith
There are over 1,000 throughout the region. Pardons, these festivities combining the secular and the sacred, have remained very popular in Brittany, as manifestations of its religiosity and identity. Some attract thousands of people, such as Sainte-Anne-d'Auray, Saint-Yves in Tréguier or the Grande Troménie in Locronan, held every six years. But most, organized around one of the many chapels that dot the Breton countryside, have more the air of village festivals. A few stand out for their picturesque character, such as the pardon au beurre in Spézet (29), the last of its kind, during which a giant lump of butter is carved and decorated.
Originally intended, as its name suggests, to atone for individual and collective sins through a great expiatory ceremony, this centuries-old ritual, superimposed on even older pagan customs, has over time become a festive community gathering. Each pardon is dedicated to a saint, whose favors are sought. Each has its own speciality: Saint Goustan protects sailors, Saint Gildas horses, Saint Cornély horned animals... Other local saints are renowned for their healing powers. Remnants of pre-Christian polytheism, saints play an important role in the Breton faith.
The pardon begins with a mass, followed by a procession to a fountain. The procession, gathered behind the processional cross, flies banners bearing the effigy of the celebrated saint and other saints, as well as statues, ex-voto offerings and relics, which are touched or kissed. On the way, pilgrims, sometimes dressed in traditional costumes, sing hymns, sometimes in Breton, sometimes accompanied by bombard and biniou. The procession, which is circular in the troménies, ends at the fountain, where participants receive a blessing.
A bonfire (tantad) may conclude the religious part, before giving way to secular festivities: meals, fest-noz, traditional dance and music shows, fairs, tombola, games, bicycle races, tractor parades, merry-go-rounds, fireworks... Each village chooses its own formula and displays its own particularities.
Somewhat neglected during the "Trente glorieuses", the "pardons" saw a resurgence in popularity from the 1980s onwards. New ones have even been created, dedicated to motorcyclists in Porcaro (56), surfers in Saint-Jean-Trolimon (29), camper-vanners in Malestroit (56)... A sign of the vitality of this ritual.
Breton and Gallo, two endangered modern languages
Linguistic Brittany is divided in two: Upper Brittany, to the east, is the territory of Gallo, a Romance language closely related to French. To the west, in Lower Brittany, lies Breton, a cousin of Welsh and Irish. These Celtic languages, spoken across much of the continent until antiquity, steadily retreated, eventually taking refuge on the western fringes of the British Isles. It was the island Bretons who, with the mass emigration to Armorica in the5th and 6th centuries, brought back their idiom.
Spoken throughout the peninsula in the 9th century, Breton then lost ground to Gallo and, among the elite, to French. The boundary between Breton and Gallic Brittany fluctuated over the centuries, before stabilizing in the 19th century: it snaked from the west of Briochin to the east of Vannes, with French-speaking islands in the military ports of Brest and Lorient.
This same 19th century severely mistreated regional languages, which were banned from schools. It wasn't until the timid Deixonne law of 1951, which authorized the (optional) teaching of regional languages, that the authorities began to loosen their grip. But the post-war period also saw the use of Breton and Gallo being marginalized by modernization. At the same time, there was a movement to reclaim the language, and productions in Breton and Welsh proliferated: books, newspaper columns, radio and TV broadcasts, plays, songs... The languages, largely oral and scattered in several dialects, were codified, and their teaching developed. In 1977, the first Diwan school opened, with classes taught entirely in Breton, based on the Quebec immersion model. Today, the Diwan network comprises 47 elementary school, six collèges and two lycées, educating some 4,000 students. Added to this are the bilingual streams of the public and private Catholic education systems, for a total of some 19,000 students. Enrolments have been rising in recent years. As for road signs, after years of smearing them at night, they too have happily converted to bilingualism.
Officially recognized as the languages of Brittany in 2004, alongside French, Breton and Gallo are now supported. But their situation is no less worrying: both are considered severely endangered by Unesco, with some 200,000 speakers each. In the case of Breton, 79% are over 60, and 56% in the case of Gallo.
