About 10 days ago we went to spend some time with my in-laws in the Gard. Our mini vacation started off with Saturday afternoon "Carnaval" to see our nephews.
What was Carnaval in a small town in Southern France?
First off, it was not organized around Mardi Gras (took place several weeks after Easter), but all the school kids got dressed up in Halloween type costumes. My understanding in the past had been that French kids got dressed up for Mardi Gras (or Carnaval), but in typical French fashion they held a traditional Catholic celebration on a random date.
Next, there was a parade behind some "floats". The parents' association built a straw man called Mr Carnaval (technically newspaper) about 10 feet tall, and he was pulled through town in a parade by a tractor. All the kids and their families followed this tractor. There was also a mini float constructed on top of two bikes that had been attached. This year the parents decided to made the straw man like Tintin, and several of the parents were dressed as characters from Tintin. They hooked up a sound system on the tractor and had music blaring, plus a kind of drum corps made up the rear of the parade and played the entire way. Confetti was distributed in little bags to the kids, and they spent their time running around trying to throw it on their friends.
After parading from the retirement home through the streets to the Arènes (no bulls this time), all the kids and families went into the stands and the straw man was brought into the middle of the arena. They called the kids down to join hands and circle around the straw man, then sent them back up to the stands and set the straw man on fire.
When it had burned, all the kids got a snack (fougasse d'Aigues-Mortes and juice).
What did I think?
The kids all seemed pretty excited and happy to be wearing costumes, including my nephew who went as a knight in the cape I made him. The parade started at the retirement home as a sort of 'event' for the old people, but crowd a village load of school kids and their parents into the already well heated dining room of a retirement home, and all you think it 'hot'.
Despite the local tradition of the parade, I hardly saw anyone watching from their doorstep, yard, or window. Between the sound system and drum corps we were making a lot of noise, so anyone at home would have heard the parade coming. One of the few spectators was a curious Labrador who came to sniff at his gate when we went by,
The parents' association told a whole story about the strawman and how he had been mean and cruel and that was why he was being burnt, but my 5 year old nephew didn't understand any of it and I was at a bit of a loss myself (they burn it because that's the tradition?).
So that, in a nutshell, is Carnaval in a small Southern town.
2 comments:
I think Nantes' carnival is around this time of the year as well, I remember it's after my birthday. It's a big deal for those who are involved in the planning. For the rest of us? Not so much :-D
(Fougasse is a strange choice for a snack! What happened to barbapapa??)
@Zhu Fougasse d'Aigues-Mortes is sweet, basically a brioche with fleur d'oranger and lots of crusty sugar on top. The only thing in common with regular fougasse is the name.
I think you're right that Carnaval is a big deal for the families involved, and no one else really pays attention.
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