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| Festival Interceltique de Lorient | |
|---|---|
 Kevrenn Alre, a Breton musical group | |
| Genre | Celtic |
| Dates | First week of August |
| Locations | Lorient,France |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Website | www |
TheFestival interceltique de Lorient (French),Emvod Ar Gelted An Oriant (Breton) orInter-Celtic Festival of Lorient in English, is an annualCeltic festival, located in the city ofLorient,Brittany,France. It was founded in 1971 byPolig Monjarret [fr].
This annual festival takes place in the heart of the city every August and is dedicated to the cultural traditions of theCeltic nations (pays celtes in French), highlightingCeltic music anddance and also including other arts such aspainting,photography,theatre,sculpture, traditionalartisanry as well assport andgastronomy.[1]
Participants come fromBrittany,Ireland,Wales,Scotland,[2]Cornwall,Cumbria, theIsle of Man,Cape Breton Island,Galicia,Asturias,Acadia, and the entire Celticdiaspora.
The main festival sites are located throughout the city, with more formal events taking place at thePalais des Congrès,Grand Théâtre orÉglise Saint Louis. The larger events take place at theParc du Moustoir (the home ofFC Lorient which can hold up to 10,000 spectators), thePort de Pêche or in grand marquees.
The festival begins with theCotriade (fr) orKaoteriad (br), a traditional Breton seafood supper, which takes place in thePort de Pêche (fr) orPorzh Pesketa (br) harbour district accompanied by sea shanties and traditional Breton marine music.
On Sunday morning theGrand Parade of Celtic Nations takes place with over 3,500 musicians, singers, pipebands and dancers from all over the Celtic world parading through the city streets innational costume.
The finals of theNationalBagadoù Championship takes place at theParc de Moustoir during the first weekend of the festival. In addition individual competitions take place for pipers.
There are demonstrations and tournaments in celtic wrestling (Gouren,Cornish wrestling andScottish backhold) with representatives from the Celtic nations taking part.
Master classes take place each morning. Afternoon events include folk and traditional music concerts and dance displays. Evening events include orchestral concerts, rock concerts andnuits magiques, displays of pipe bands, dancers, choirs and fireworks.
Throughout the festival theVillage Celtique (fr) orMarc'had Etrekeltiek (br) is open in the centre of the city offering food, music and literature, clothing and crafts.
On the final Saturday of the festival folk and rock musicians perform at the fishing harbour for theNuit de Port de Pêche.
There is also much activity on the festival fringe, with musicians giving free performances in many of the city’s bars and pubs every evening until late.
The festival also hosts Grande Parade des Nations Celtes, a parade that marches through the streets of the Lorient while the participants play instruments and wear their cultural attire.[3][4]
The festival organisers have more recently embarked on similar ventures such as theSt Patrick's Day concert inParis, France, which attracts a crowd of 70,000 spectators and the Celtica concert inNantes, Brittany.
