Terroir en Rimes

Terroir en Rimes: Poetry Accessible to All in Haute-Loire

Since 2008, the Terroir en Rimes festival has made the Pays de Cayres-Pradelles region resonate with the rhythm of poetry. Born from the initiative of the Landos library, this annual event is supported by volunteers from local libraries and the community of communes. Each year in March, it unfolds over two weeks, echoing the national Printemps des Poètes, whose theme it adopts to build a rich and accessible program for everyone.

A Traveling Festival Across the Territory

Terroir en Rimes is not confined to a single location: events are spread across several communes in the Pays de Cayres-Pradelles. The opening and closing evenings are held alternately in Landos, Saint-Haon, Cayres, Pradelles, or Ouides, allowing each village in the region to participate in the poetic adventure. The cultural hall and the Landos library remain the emblematic venues of the festival, hosting the highlights of the program.

A Program Balancing Tradition and Creation

The festival offers a varied program centered around several key events:

• Meetings with Guest Poets: Each edition hosts one or more contemporary poets for readings and discussions with the public. Past guests include Jean-Baptiste Cabaud, Mélanie Leblanc, and Pierre Presumey.
• Poetic Walks: Guided walks in the heart of nature, led by enthusiasts and the Pays d'art et d'Histoire, combining discovery of local heritage with poetry recitations.
• Ciné-Poème: Film screenings related to the edition's theme, held at the Landos cultural hall.
• Closing Evenings: Reading of poems received through the call for poems, followed by a concert or a slam performance. The slam artist Gyslain.N notably made an impression during the 16th edition.
• Slam Workshops: Sessions held in schools and the Robert-Louis Stevenson college in Landos, introducing young people to poetic writing and recitation.

The Poetic Intervention Brigade (BIP)

A true signature of the festival, the Poetic Intervention Brigade is a collective of passionate volunteers who organize surprise interventions in schools, colleges, EHPADs, community centers, and clubs in the region. Armed with poetry collections, these "clameurs" recite texts to both young and old, with the mission of awakening literary curiosity and bringing poetry into everyone's daily life.

A Call for Poems Open to All

Each year, the festival launches a call for poems on the theme of the Printemps des Poètes. Amateurs or experts, children and adults, everyone is invited to submit their creations before mid-March to the Landos library, by mail or email. The received texts are then exhibited and recited during the closing evening, in a moment of sharing and conviviality over a drink and some treats.

A Free and Friendly Festival

True to its spirit of openness and sharing, Terroir en Rimes is a completely free festival. All activities — readings, meetings, walks, screenings, concerts — are accessible to everyone without prior reservation. This freeness, made possible by the commitment of volunteers and the support of the community of communes, makes Terroir en Rimes a truly popular event, rooted in the cultural life of the Pays de Cayres-Pradelles.