Le Mondial la Marseillaise à Pétanque is an international tournament of the sport of pétanque. It is held every year in July in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, the biggest city in the south of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The central location of the event is in the

Parc Borély Parc Borély is a public municipal park in the city of Marseille, France. It is classified by the Ministry of Culture as one of the Remarkable Gardens of France. The park is 17 hectares in size. It adjoins the Jardin botanique E.M. Heckel. Des ...

, but it now extends to many other parks and boulodromes in and around the city. In 2016, the 55th Mondial attracted around 15,000 participants and 150,000 spectators. The competition presents 3 tables: male, female and junior in mixed. Certainly, it is the biggest event in the world for pétanque, though with 15,000 players it is also most likely the biggest single sport event in the world. The Mondial was first held in July 1961 with the support of the daily newspaper ''La Marseillaise'', after which the event is named. Almost from the beginning it was strongly supported by Paul Ricard, the founder of Ricard, the company famous for the Ricard brand of

pastis Pastis (; oc, Pastís, ; or ) is an anise-flavoured spirit and apéritif traditionally from France, typically containing less than 100 g/L sugar and 40–45% ABV (alcohol by volume). Origins Pastis was first commercialized by Paul Ricard in ...

. For many years Michel Montana has been ''Président de l'association du Mondial La Marseillaise à Pétanque'' and the guiding spirit behind the event. Many of the big games of the Mondial are televised by French TV Channel, France 3. Note that the name of the event is Mondial "à" Pétanque, not Mondial "de" Pétanque. The word "pétanque" comes from the provençal expression ''à pèd tanca'' which means "on planted feet". In French, one says "on planted feet" (''à pieds planté'') just as one says "on one's knees" (''à genoux''). So the name of the event is Mondial "à" Pétanque— not Mondial "de" Pétanque.http://www.20minutes.fr/marseille/1641347-20150628-pourquoi-faut-parler-mondial-petanque-petanque, ''Pourquoi il faut parler du Mondial « à » Pétanque et pas « de » Pétanque''

References

Sport in Marseille Pétanque {{france-sport-stub