At the rural home of TRIAIZE, for years now, every year it's party time! And what a party! The "Dung Festival"!
Dung...
Let's start with the main object of the feast, dung, and, for the poor unfortunate people who only live in the city, and who believe that a net of fish is found in the sea in the form of a small breaded rectangle, we must first define it a little...
So... how do I put this...
A cow... you know what I mean? At one end it gets grass, fodder, etc... well, what you get at the other end is dung!
So being made up of plant residues, it is combustible, and man, who is not an idiot, has realized this for a very long time. So, for a very long time, he has been collecting it, drying it, and then heating himself with it.
Of course, one could say that there are many other fuels, such as coal, wood... but, when you are in a space like the Marais Poitevin, there is no coal underneath, there are no trees above!
But, there are cows... so, conclude yourself!
We use what has sometimes been called "cow wood"!
The party...
It's a nice party, organized by the rural hostel.
Of course, there is the traditional demonstration of old-fashioned harvesting, wheat threshing, exhibition of very old tractors, and you can see the sheep shearer and the straw bale thrower!
But, obviously, the highlight of the festival is the dung!
And you can learn about its manufacturing technique, during which, after being carefully kneaded with straw by oxen that are spun in circles, it will take its final shape by the skilful use of specific molds, as you can see in the video below the article. Quite an art!
The jumping stick...
She's the second star of the party.
Let's not lose sight of the fact that we are in the Marais Poitevin, and that, if there are no trees, there are many ditches full of water.
And these ditches, these small waterways, are often too wide for us to simply jump over them. From there, there are two solutions: make a very big detour, or find a way to jump over them anyway.
And that's why the famous jumping stick is used. It's a beautiful pole vault, and we all know that pole vaulting allows you to jump high and jump far, the latter being very interesting, in the circumstances, of course.
Yes, but the bottom of these ditches is naturally very soft. No problem: just add to the pole vault a nice wooden disc that will provide support. It's the famous jumping stick, and during the festival, the young people make brilliant demonstrations of it!
Foyer Rural
1, rue de la Maratte
85580 TRIAIZE
Tél. : 02 51 27 95 67
foyer.triaize@wanadoo.fr
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
Click on the image
