The fêtes de Bayonne is a

feria In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a feria is a day of the week other than Sunday. In more recent official liturgical texts in English, the term ''weekday'' is used instead of ''feria''. If the feast day of a saint falls on such a day, the ...

consisting in a series of

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

in the Northern Basque Country in the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of Bayonne,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The festival lasts 5 days and always starts the Wednesday before the first Sunday of August. It is the largest festival in France. In the eighties, participants started to dress in

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

with a

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

scarf A scarf, plural ''scarves'', is a piece of fabric worn around the neck or head for warmth, sun protection, cleanliness, fashion, religious reasons, or used to show the support for a sports club or team. They can be made in a variety of differ ...

and a red

belt Belt may refer to: Apparel * Belt (clothing), a leather or fabric band worn around the waist * Championship belt, a type of trophy used primarily in combat sports * Colored belts, such as a black belt or red belt, worn by martial arts practit ...

after the colours of the city of

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

. Some rare purists prefer to wear blue and white, the colours of the city of Bayonne. The festivals include

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

al and street performances, traditional dances, parades, and fireworks. The first "Fêtes de Bayonne," called "The Big Summer Festival," took place on July 13, 1932. It was instigated by a group of friends belonging to the Aviron Bayonnais rugby team. They wanted to create celebrations similar to those of San Fermin in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

(famous for their

Running of the Bulls A running of the bulls ( es, encierro, from the verb ''encerrar'', 'to corral, to enclose'; oc, abrivado, literally 'haste, momentum'; ca, correbous, 'run-bulls') is an event that involves running in front of a small group of bulls, typicall ...

) in Bayonne.

Gallery

Image:Bayonne_Festayres_(1).jpg, Fêtes 2006 Image:Bayonne_Festayres_(2).jpg, Fêtes 2006 Image:Bayonne_Festayres.jpg, Fêtes 2006 Image:Bayonne_Corso_lumineux_2004_(1).jpg, Corso lumineux 2004 Image:Bayonne_Corso_lumineux_2004_(2).jpg, Corso lumineux 2004 Image:Bayonne_Corso_lumineux_2004_(3).jpg, Corso lumineux 2004 Image:Bayonne_Corso_lumineux_(1).jpg, Corso lumineux 2006 Image:Bayonne_Corso_lumineux_(2).jpg, Corso lumineux 2006 Image:Bayonne_Artifice.jpg, Fêtes 2006, fireworks

External links

www.fetes-de-bayonne.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fetes de Bayonne Festivals in France Labourd Tourist attractions in Pyrénées-Atlantiques Bayonne