Fêtes de Biscarrosse

The Biscarrosse Beach Festival: Landes tradition on the ocean

A major seaside resort on the Landes coast, Biscarrosse is known for its lakes, its immense beach and its aeronautical heritage. But every first weekend of September, it is Landes tradition that takes over with the Beach Festival, an event that transforms Biscarrosse-Plage into a festive Gascon village with its feet in the sand. Created twenty years ago, this festival has become an unmissable event that marks the end of the summer season.

Bands and stilt walkers: the soul of the Landes

The bands, these brass and percussion fanfares that make the Southwest vibrate, are omnipresent during the three days of festivities. The Band'A Bisca, a local group, leads the procession of fanfares that parade on the esplanade and in the streets of the resort. The Landes stilt walkers, heirs of the shepherds of the Grande Lande who roamed the marshes on stilts, parade in traditional costume, offering a spectacle that is as elegant as it is impressive. These two traditions embody the cultural identity of the Landes and are the pillars of the Beach Festival.

Maypole raising and Gascon dances

The maypole raising, an ancestral Gascon tradition, is one of the highlights of the festivities. A decorated pine tree, the maypole, is erected in the square in a symbolic ritual that celebrates nature and the community. Gascon dances, performed in traditional costume, recall the balls of yesteryear where Landes shepherds danced on their stilts. Wood chopping demonstrations evoke the work of the resin tappers and loggers who shaped the Landes de Gascogne forest.

Pala tournament and Basque sport

The pala tournament, organized on the Biscarrosse fronton, brings together the best French pelotaris for spectacular games of this Basque pelota sport played bare-handed against a wall. This tournament, which attracts pelota lovers from all over the Southwest, illustrates the cultural proximity between the Landes and the Basque Country, and adds a high-level sporting dimension to the festivities.

Morning tripes, fireworks and three days of celebration

The morning tripes, a traditional Landes festival breakfast served from 8 a.m., open each day in a good mood and conviviality. This morning ritual, which may surprise the uninitiated, is a must for enduring festival-goers who have danced all night. The fireworks on Saturday evening at 10 p.m. are the highlight of the three days, illuminating the sky above the beach in front of thousands of spectators. Musical evenings, dances and entertainment continue from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.