Category: Brittany

The Bagad Guingamp celebrated 40 years

On Saturday, the Bagad Gwengamp celebrated 40 years. Bagadoù are roughly the equivalent of the brass band, except there are no brass instruments, only: bagpipes, bombards and drums. I went with Maxime, and we had fun. Several bagadoù had joined the party. They marched through the town center and gave a concert on the central square. It was loud and noisy. In the evening, they had a Festnoz to which we didn’t go.

Deomp de’i

A big demonstration to defend the use of minority languages is organized  on 31st March in Quimper. There will also be similar demonstrations in other parts of France on the same day. French is the only officially recognised language in the country. An agressive promotion of the French Language over the 20th century has marginalised local languages. Until not so long ago, Breton children would have been punished if they spoke Breton at school. But many people today want to have the right to use their own local language. I think it’s fair. I would have been interested to attend, but I’ve got a commitment in the evening on the same day. Click on the picture to access the official website for more details.

In the local paper today, 7th March 2012

Today in “Le Télégramme“

  • A very sad news item: 4 children and a man die in a fire in Lannion, about 1/2h drive from us. The mother and a baby managed to escape. It is the 5th fire in the same part of the old town in less than a year.
  • Presidential elections: Should we give up the 35 hours work week?
  • There’s an egg shortage due to some change in European regulations about hen cages.
  • In Guingamp, a militant from the pressure group Aï’ta was arrested during a demonstration in the post office. Aï’ta is promoting the use of the Breton Language.