Autour d’un feu, une veillée

De leurs belles femmes accompagnés, Dansant sur des rythmes endiablés, Gardians se mettent à chanter.

Fabien Cendre

Hundreds of horses and shepherds on the beach of Saintes Maries:

1000 horses, 200 shepherds and thousands of enthusiasts gather on 10 and 11 November on the beach of Saintes Maries de la Mer for one of the biggest festivals in the south of France. A unique encounter between the Camargue, horses, bulls and all lovers of the bullfighting tradition.

Every day, the festival begins with breakfast offered on the eastern beach in a place called “Rousty” (Bambou Palm Beach parking). Departure of the knights and bulls from 11 am with a column of 11 abrivados that will follow one another along the 6 km route that will take them to the arena. It recalls the transfer as in the past (there were no trucks) of the bulls to the arena in the center of the village for the traditional Camargue race, a kind of bullfight where, however, the only one who risks is man. The difficulty of the riders lies in keeping the bulls inside the abrivado, everything is complicated by the presence of disturbers who with drapes, firecrackers and smoke bombs (abolished in the last festival), try to scare the horses so that the bulls disperse …

An impressive sight to see absolutely to fall in love with the Camargue and its traditions!