TOTAL FESTUM 2025:
ERA SENT JOAN EN COMENGE, EN COSERANS, ENA NESTA E EN VAROSSA.
From May to July 2025
Organised by Eth Ostau Comenges, as part of the Creative Europe Tramontana IV project.
As the Saint-Jean celebration (on June 24th) approaches, Eth Ostau Comengés is preparing several awareness-raising actions around this fire festival. Often running alongside the evening musical conferences, school mediation programs are a key means of engaging the local youth in preserving these traditions. During these sessions, time will be dedicated to presenting to students from elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools an exhibition that explains the ancient origins of this festival, its UNESCO listing, and the diversity of techniques and practices surrounding the event. This presentation will also highlight the connections between Saint-Jean and pastoralism.
The second part of the day will focus on raising awareness of these primitive sounds. Here, children will have the opportunity to make their own whistles from Japanese knotweed, a plant that grows near bodies of water, reinforcing the link between the festival and the aquatic environment. They will also be able to try and observe traditional pastoral instruments such as conchs, cow horns, goat horns, and ram horns.
As the Saint-Jean celebration (on June 24th) approaches, Eth Ostau Comengés will also host a musical conference. This conference will explore how the Saint-Jean festival has been celebrated in the Central Pyrenees from the 17th century to the present day. The musical conference we are offering is first and foremost an opportunity for exchange, where the audience will be able to interact with the two speakers, provide additional information, or ask questions.
This evening will be an opportunity to discuss the UNESCO listing of the fire festivals of the Pyrenees and explore the origins and symbolism of the event. We will also discover the diversity of the fires in Comminges, ranging from the Neste to Couserans, as well as the known, secret, or forgotten beliefs and rituals associated with the summer solstice. We will talk particularly about the links between these fire festivals and beliefs surrounding water. For example, “har” (split trees burned on the night of the festival) are stored near a body of water, such as a river, before being lit. Often, there is also a correlation between these mountain communities and pastoralism, especially regarding the soundscape of the festival, where many pastoral instruments (horns, conchs, etc.) are featured.
The conference, led by Mathieu Fauré, will be open to all and will be accompanied by songs and instrumental music on the hurdy-gurdy by Dominique Barés, an experienced Occitan musician well-known in Comminges and beyond.