The French have a fête to celebrate everything to do with food: onions, apples, cheese… In most of this region at the moment each village is having its Fête de la Vendange to celebrate the end of the grape harvest.
But in Castelnaudary, situated on one of the largest basins of the Canal du Midi, it’s the Fête du Cassoulet. Castelnaudary is the centre of the cassoulet industry and is home to a number of competing manufacturers. There’s a huge artisanal market with products ranging from local cheese and wine, to every variety of cassoulet and local pottery.
There are huge marquees along the high street taken over by local restaurants to serve cassoulet and local wines and then, at around 3 pm (I say ‘around’ beacause this is the south of France…) the procession starts.
This is a bit like the Bridgwater Carnival (for anyone in the south-west of England) in that local communes spend the year preparing their float from paper flowers. They were all quite spectacular and included entire families, with young children involved – all dressed up and throwing confetti at the crowds.
There were brass bands and majorettes – and even a bit of a Scottish influence (not sure where that came from…).
as well as the inevitable Cathar knights, all made from flowers.
It was an amazing spectacle (and lunch!!) and we’d parked some way along the canal and so lunch was digested by a lovely walk along what – today – was quite a busy waterway.
Castelnaudary certainly seems to be booming as is attested by a huge new out-of-town shopping zone just on the edge, including what looks like a gigantic Intermarché hypermarket.
Sounds lovely, wish I were there.