__NOTOC__ The (French), Emvod Ar Gelted An Oriant (Breton) or Inter-Celtic Festival of Lorient in English, is an annual

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

festival, located in the city of

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It was founded in 1971 by . This annual festival takes place in the heart of the city every August and is dedicated to the cultural traditions of the

Celtic nations The Celtic nations or Celtic countries are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term ''nation'' is used in its original sense to mean a ...

(''pays celtes'' in French), highlighting

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...

and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and also including other arts such as

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, traditional artisanry as well as

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

and

gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between Human food, food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well ver ...

. Participants come from

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

, Galicia,

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...

, and the entire Celtic

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

Programme of events

The main festival sites are located throughout the city, with more formal events taking place at the ''Palais des Congrès'', ''Grand Théâtre'' or ''Église Saint Louis''. The larger events take place at the ''Parc du Moustoir'' (the home of Lorient Football Club which can hold up to spectators), the ''Port de Pêche'' or in grand marquees. The festival begins with the ' (fr) or ''Kaoteriad'' (br), a traditional Breton seafood supper, which takes place in the ' (fr) or ''Porzh Pesketa'' (br) harbour district accompanied by sea shanties and traditional Breton marine music. On Sunday morning the ''Grand Parade of Celtic Nations'' takes place with over musicians, singers, pipebands and dancers from all over the Celtic world parading through the city streets in

national costume Folk costume, traditional dress, traditional attire or folk attire, is clothing of an ethnic group, nation or region, and expresses cultural, religious or national identity. An ethnic group's clothing may also be called ethnic clothing or ethnic ...

. The finals of the ''National

Bagad A bagad (, ) is a Music of Brittany, Breton band, composed of bagpipes (, ), bombard (music), bombards and drums (including Snare drum, snare, tenor and bass drums). The pipe band tradition in Brittany was inspired by the Pipe Band, Scottish exa ...

où Championship'' takes place at the ''Parc de Moustoir'' during the first weekend of the festival. In addition individual competitions take place for pipers. Lorient Advert 1

There are demonstrations and tournaments in celtic wrestling (

Gouren Gouren is a style of folk wrestling which has been established in Brittany for several centuries. It is practiced mainly in Brittany, but also in some neighboring regions, in particular through international meetings organized by the FILC (Fédér ...

Cornish wrestling Cornish wrestling () is a form of wrestling that has been established in Cornwall for many centuries and possibly longer. It is similar to the Breton people, Breton Gouren wrestling style. It is colloquially known as "wrasslin’"Phillipps, K C: ...

and Scottish backhold) with representatives from the Celtic nations taking part.

Master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es take place each morning. Afternoon events include folk and traditional music concerts and dance displays. Evening events include orchestral concerts, rock concerts and "Nuits Magiques", displays of pipe bands, dancers, choirs and fireworks. Throughout the festival the "Village Celtique" (fr) or "Marc'had Etrekeltiek" (br) is open in the centre of the city offering food, music and literature, clothing and crafts. On the final Saturday of the festival folk and rock musicians perform at the fishing harbour for the ''Nuit de Port de Pêche''. There is also much activity on the festival fringe, with musicians giving free performances in many of the city’s bars and pubs every evening until late. The festival organisers have more recently embarked on similar ventures such as the

St Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...

concert in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, which attracts a crowd of spectators and the Celtica concert in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, Brittany. File:anoriant1.jpg, Lorient Interceltic Festival in Brittany File:anoriant2.jpg, Bagad of Lann-Bihoué at Lorient Interceltic Festival in Brittany File:FILGrandeParade2.jpg, Dances File:anoriant3.jpg, Lorient Interceltic Festival File:Bagad-lann-bihoue1.JPG, Alain Souchon and the Lann-Bihoué's bagad, in 2007

External links

*
St Patrick's Night in Paris

Celtica at Nantes
{{Celts Breton festivals Celtic music festivals Inter-Celtic organisations Lorient Tourist attractions in Brittany Music festivals in France Tourist attractions in Morbihan Piping events Music festivals established in 1970

Programme of events

See also

External links