Les Villages en Fête de Tinchebray

A biennial tractor festival in the Orne countryside

Tinchebray-Bocage is located in the southwest of the Orne department, between Flers and Vire, near the borders of Manche and Calvados. Following the 2008 district agricultural show, a group of local residents founded the Les Villages Tinchebrayens association to bring life to the town's various hamlets and villages. They launched the first Tractor Flea Market on September 6, 2009, and have held it every other September since then at the Mares site. The 7th edition took place in 2023, the 8th is scheduled for September 14, 2025, and the 9th is announced for September 12, 2027. The association had 83 members in 2024.

Parts market, vintage tractors, and city parade

The day begins at 7:00 AM with the tractor parts market, which runs until the evening, followed by the opening of the vintage tractor exhibition at 9:00 AM. Two groups then parade through the streets of Tinchebray at 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM, followed by horse-drawn carriages and classic cars at 11:30 AM, before returning to the Mares site at noon. The route passes through Orgerie, the road to Saint-Jean, Rue Xavier Onfray, Rue de l'Abbaye, Boulevard du Nord, Rue de Paris, Porte de Condé, the Grande Rue, and the Notre-Dame bridge. In 2019, 182 tractors from 58 different brands, ranging from 7 to 228 horsepower and including a century-old model, were displayed before 3,000 visitors. The 2013 edition drew 140 tractors and 5,000 visitors.

Afternoon: traditional crafts, tractor pulling, and soapbox racing

From 2:00 PM, tractors are presented in the ring. Traditional crafts occupy a large part of the site, including blacksmithing, farriery, wheelwrighting, stone carving, woodturning, carpentry, basketry, pottery, glassblowing, traditional sawing, and butter and cream making. Other attractions include vintage harvesting and field work, carriage driving, donkey rides, carriage tours, pony rides, and bouncy castles. Vintage military vehicles are also on display and offer rides to visitors. Off-road soapbox racing is on the program for the 2023 and 2025 editions, both morning and afternoon.

Tractor pulling and the raffle

The tractor pulling competition, a load-hauling challenge, closes the day just before the raffle draw at 6:00 PM. The grand prize is a real vintage tractor: a 1959 Someca 35 in 2015 and a 1961 Massey Ferguson 825 in 2017.