Bonfire Night "Fête De La Saint-Jean"

The "Fête de la Saint-Jean" (celebration of St John the Baptist) is celebrated here on 24th June. Some villages built huge bonfires that are lit on the night. These things sometimes take days of preparation, and are huge. Bize had a beauty on the river bed, nearly a week in the making. However someone thought it would be a good idea to get things underway a bit early, and it was set alight in the very early hours of the Wednesday morning before. So come daylight, all that was left was a group of pompiers standing around a large smouldering mass on the river. Fortunately friends who live in Agel had the same celebration and I joined them for the evening – a meal first first, bonfire later. I have to say that their bonfire was a very well-structured affair with most of the timbers coming from the roof of Bonnie and Terry’s renovation project.  

But Bize rallied, and in fact another bonfire was put together and lit the following Saturday – a good night with live music on the promenade, and a MONSTER of a fire.