It was expected, hoped for, planned: To celebrate its 70th anniversary, the famous Bagad de Lann Bihoué (bagpipes, bombardes, percussion) of the French Navy, did not content itself with opening the Great Parade of the Celtic Nations, the August 7 in Lorient.
Cherry on the “kouign amann” of Sunday, 300 former musicians, in navy and white striped sweater, symbol of the Armorican sailor, closed the march. Behind the flags of the Celtic nations – Ireland, Scotland, Wales… – Lann Bihoué opened a parade of sixty-five groups (Breton bagadoù, Gaelic pipe-bands, Celtic circles).
The whole, ending, in the evening, in a vibrant “Triumph of the bell ringers” and dancers (3000 participants), to the same tune and at the same pace.
The day before, Bagad Kemper (Quimper) had won the first-category national championship ahead of Cap Caval, Brieg, Locoal-Mendon, Kerlenn Pondi (Pontivy), Lorient, Vannes… A fiercely contested competition at the Moustoir stadium, in front of a conquered crowd but also stuffed with experts, not to say scholars, of Breton music.
The Interceltique brings together all the components of the Celtic nations
As its name suggests, the Interceltique brings together all the components of the Celtic nations, including those of a distant diaspora: This year, after Australian or New Zealand formations, Lorient welcomed the “Prince Charles Pipe Band” from San Francisco. The opportunity, through multiple conferences and weaving debates, is also given to strengthen economic, cultural and even political ties between “cousins” more or less separated by the sea: from Nantes to Cardiff (twin cities), from Dublin in Glasgow, from Edinburgh to Belfast, from Galicia to Asturias…
In ten days of festivities, Lorient, the city of five ports, receives some 600,000 visitors. There are some international personalities. In 2014, the year of Ireland, Michael Higgins, President of the Republic, came to share the art of the whole galette at the “Galway Inn”, the first Irish pub established in Brittany forty years ago. Before him or since then, many prime ministers (Welsh, Scottish) have followed his example.
If the “FIL” (Interceltic Festival) has served as a springboard or a rebound for more than one artist (the Galician gaitero Carlos Nunez started there at 15), the Chieftains and the Dubliners were its pillars, Bono they say drank his Guinness there, the show “Riverdance” made its first ranges on the port, Sinéad O’Conno ry sang: “Nothing Compares 2 U”, etc… We are eagerly awaiting the return of Ireland in 2023.
It is also in Lorient, regional star of Interceltism, that the singer from Brest, Christophe Miossec , pulled back the curtain on his last tour. For him, “Celtitude and Bretonness” go hand in hand.
Vannes, capital of Breton music
The proof is given to us in Vannes, immediately in the wake of the FIL. Indeed, Morbihan remains the number one for the party. After having vibrated for more than half a century with Celtic culture (51 editions of the FIL… Vannes, who created the Fêtes d’Arvor (1928) as a pioneer of the genre, launched the first “Festival d’Arvor”. Placed around from August 15, it now extends to the whole of the Vannes country (Bro Gwened), which more or less includes the limits of the agglomeration. Artists, dancers, bell ringers, selected by the Confederation of Dance ” Kenleur” (Cercles celtiques) and “Sonerion” (Bagadoù) inevitably sign a new “Triumph”. With, inevitably, the Bagad of Lann Bihoué, a majestic and ritual attraction.