Festivals: a major event of the year
The South-West is a land of festivals! Jazz fans won't want to miss a trip to the Landes. The Jazz in Sanguinet festival livens up the town's streets during the summer. For four days, the Landes town is transformed into a jazzy village. Concerts take place at Espace Gemme, a typical Landes farmhouse full of charm. In July, the Capbreton Jazz Festival takes place in Capbreton. Founded in 1990, the seaside town organizes free musical events featuring jazz, soul, R&B and Afrobeat, on the seafront, in the town center, in the public gardens and directly at shopkeepers'. In Dax, the Motors n'Blues Festival brings together motorcycle and blues music enthusiasts, while in Luxey, north of Mont-de-Marsan, festival-goers dance to the sounds of French variety and world music, while enjoying the many street arts events. The latter regularly features headliners such as Mika, Calogero, Louise Attaque, M and Ibrahim Maalouf. Closer to the ocean, the Little Festival is a not-to-be-missed summer event: a delicious mix of electronic music, street art and board sports performances in an exceptional setting. Finally, since 2020, Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains has hosted the Festival Essentiel in early July, bringing together fans of pop, electro, rock, soul and French variety.
Local festivals are also not to be missed. They're an opportunity to discover traditional music, as well as the atmosphere and conviviality of the Landes region. The famous ferias are organized throughout the Landes region. Originally, this festival was organized around trade and agricultural fairs. Today, in the Landes, ferias take the form of large-scale festivities featuring landaise racing, bandas, folk entertainment with stilt-walkers, Basque pelota tournaments and many other activities, with a dress code to be respected depending on the town! The most popular ferias in the Landes are those of Mont-de-Marsan (known as the Fêtes de la Madeleine, where people dress in blue and white), Dax (in red and white), Saint-Vincent-de-Tyrosse and Soustons.
Traditional music and song
Singing, dancing and musical instruments are all part of the Landes heritage. In Gascony, the Landes bagpipe, known as the boha, is one of the most representative of these instruments, played mainly in the Landes forest. This wind instrument is a kind of double clarinet, and can be played polyphonically. The boha was very popular in the 19th century, played by one or two musicians (the Bonaire) at local festivals. The instrument has been revived since the 1970s. Alongside it are the violin, traditionally from Béarn, but introduced to the Landes in the 19th century, as well as the tambourine, flute and oboe. The Landes conservatory strives to keep these traditional instruments and songs alive through multi-disciplinary teaching. You can learn to play the 3-hole flute, the boha, the caressera, the hurdy-gurdy or the diatonic accordion.
To find out more about traditional Landes music and song, contact the Association pour la Culture Populaire dans les Landes, or check out the full calendar of events online.
La fanfare banda
How can we talk about music without mentioning the banda? The banda is a kind of marching band that originated between the towns of Dax and Bayonne. Bandas are associated with festivities! It's during ferias - but also at village festivals throughout the year - that you'll see bandas roaming freely through the streets of the Landes region. Brass, woodwind and percussion instruments play traditional music during these festivities. A tradition throughout the Gascony region. Paquito is also played to the rhythm of the bandas. Part dance, part sporting game, this south-western custom comes from the ferias. You know the principle - maybe you've even tried it? Several people sitting one behind the other on the ground carry one of the participants lying on top of them at arm's length. During these festivities, you'll be able to hear the Paquito el Chocolatero music, a classic played by the bandas of the South-West. Composed in 1937, this paso doble has become an essential soundtrack.
The dances of Gascony
Les Landes is a land of traditions. Traditional dances are part of the local heritage. Congò is one of these dances, which can be found throughout much of Gascony, particularly in the Landes, in the Grande-Lande and Marsan areas. Inspired by English contredanses, this country dance is based on a highly codified movement of dancers, arranged in a circle or square. Congò is danced by fours: two couples face each other. The Landes region of Gascony is also attached to another dance: the rondeau. Traditionally, this dance was an opportunity for neighbors to socialize during festivals, weddings, carnivals, etc. For a long time, it was one of the most popular dances in the Landes, whether in the closed form(rondo barrada) or the open form(rondo aubèrta), performed in short chains or in couples forming a circle. There are many variations, depending on the dancers' faces or improvisation. Today, a number of associations are rediscovering these traditional dances through discovery courses and events. This is particularly true of the Association pour la Culture Populaire dans les Landes, which frequently organizes cultural events.
If you'd like to discover local traditions, Landes Émotions organizes unique Landes race shows across the region, from Soustons to Mimizan, via Aire-sur-l'Adour. During the summer season, the village of Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains also organizes Landes folklore, a concentration of local traditions: a group of Landes stilt-walkers (a tradition originating from the Landes shepherds), accompanied by dancers in traditional costume, perform choreographed routines on the fronton before the famous game of pelota.
