As in Asterix, it always ends with a banquet, but let’s take it from the beginning… First of all, there’s a village and its volunteers who have worked all year to organise a festival that may not return for another 30 years.
All generations have worked hard to showcase the village’s heritage, anticipating the pride of welcoming people from next door or from the ends of the earth.
But let’s set the scene, it’s a bit like theatre, there are ‘tableaux’ that are repeated year after year but that we love: a display of multicoloured banners floating in the winter sunshine, thousands of garlands of colourful flowers, grapes overflowing from harvest baskets and vintage wine-making equipment evoking the work of the winegrowers in a landscape of sleeping vines – welcome to Saint-Vincent!
After mass, the impressive parade of saints rivals the finest Pardons in Brittany, with no fewer than 100 brotherhoods taking part!
Finally, the prestigious Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, whose rituals are inspired by the last orders of chivalry of the Burgundian court, thanks the old winegrowers and winemakers, sometimes very moved, by enthroning them…
