May Day, May Day.

In recent times, I have spent some months of the year in the southern, French Provençal town of Arles and it never ceases to delight me. 

It is the town where acclaimed artist Vincent Van Gogh lived for a time – the time in which he went mad and cut off his ear (in protest at his housemate, Paul Gauguin – also a renowned artist – threatening to leave.) 

A prolific time for this most beloved of artists, a walk through town reveals his inspirations and in one of possibly his best known works, ‘Starry Night Over the Rhone’, I can even pin point my little bolthole on the banks of the river.

A small selection of Arlesian Paintings by Vincent Van Gogh

But Van Gogh represents only the town’s more recent history. Arles can be traced back to the years BC – to Gallo-Roman times. In Arles there is layer upon layer of history one of which is the May Day celebrations.

The First of May in Arles

May Day, in the region (and elsewhere in the northern hemisphere) has been extensively celebrated since pagan times – for various reasons.

Originally, it was all about the seasons – this one was a spring celebration – or the coming of summer.

As time went by, and as was the Christian wont, in some areas it was claimed and rebadged as a Christian festival and in Germany it celebrates St. Walburger who is credited with bringing Christianity to Germany. The Catholics, on the other hand, made it the May devotions to the Mother Mary.

But the date has also been claimed by secular society and in the late 19^th Century, 1^st May was chosen as International Workers or Labour Day.A Communist/Socialist initiative, it is celebrated widely in Europe and in Communist countries such as China, North Korea, Cuba and various Soviet nations.

In France, it is a public holiday that has come to be symbolised by the giving and wearing of the Lily of the Valley flower (Muguet in French- said to be a custom dating back to King Charles IX) and vendors can sell the flower, tax free, on this day.

In a co-option of the co-option, in 1955, as a foil to International Workers’ Day, the Catholic Pope, Pius XII, declared it the day of St Joseph the Worker (the husband of Mary the Virgin).

In Arles, it is a dual celebration; along with the bunches of Lily of the Valley and workers’ parades, it is also La Fête des Gardians  (the festival of the Gardians). 

Les Gardians and the Camargue

The ‘Gardians’ are the cowboys of the local region known as the Camargue who, in the year 1512 formed a brotherhood La Confrérie de Gardians (Brotherhood of Gardians). Today, the Brotherhood keeps their ancient traditions alive and with Arles being the principal town of the Camargue, it is where they hold their annual celebrations each May Day.

The Camargue is a flat, wetland nestled between the town and the Mediterranean and is the only area in France that grows rice and its specific topography enables the production of salt too.

The wetlands of the Camargue are home to a large variety of bird-life both migratory and not – and part of the Camargue is a renowned ornithological park. One of its most celebrated inhabitants is the flamingo, gloriously pretty in its various shades of pink

But more than this, it is cowboy country – Gardian country – where cattle is bred and skilled horsemanship is de rigueur.

It is from here that the almost mystical Cheval Blanc  (White Horse) of the Camargue hails.

One of the most ancient breeds, travelling through the Camargue you will rarely see a horse of any other colour and, although the horses’ skin is dark and the foals are born with dark hair, the hair changes to white as they grow.

It is these horses that that Gardians ride when they muster the cattle.  And the cattle that are bred there are the large black bulls bred notably for La Corrida – the bullfight.

For although the traditional bullfight is generally known as a Spanish tradition, it is also tradition in these parts – with the start of the bullfighting season occurring in Arles. The first Corrida of the bullfighting season is held during La Feria in Arles at Easter.

The spectacle occurs in the ruins of the old roman amphitheatre (L’arène) in the centre of town and, for some time now, the star matador of the French/Spanish bullfighting circuit (it’s a travelling show) is Juan Bautista and he was born in Arles.

La Corrida is not to be confused with Les Courses Camarguaises – that are not blood sports (ie – no bulls are hurt or killed) These are games in which the cowboys of the Camargue – Les Gardians – show off their skills handling the bulls and also their horsemanship.

The day of La Fête des Gardians end in L’arène (the amphitheatre) with these games and starts with a parade.

The Parade

Everyone loves a parade and the whole town turns out sporting the sprig of he sprig of muguet tipping a nod to the workers of France.

The parade is long and colourful, featuring the white horses with the riders with some marchers on foot in traditional costumes, some playing the fife (tin whistle) and drums. 

The men double up with their women on horseback, who ride the horses side saddle with their voluminous dresses arranged prettily over the horse’s haunches. 

Children feature, also in traditional garb, and you can tell that they are as comfortable in the saddle as they are on foot – maybe more so.

The day starts off with the blessing of the horses, before proceeding through town where it stops to salute the statue of Frédéric Mistral in the Place du Forum.

Mistral, writer and winner of Nobel Peace Prize for literature, was a champion and promoter of Provençal language and culture and there is a Museum in Arles devoted to this – established by Mistral himself who was born in nearby St Remy de Provence.

Then it’s everyone up to the church of Notre Dame de la Major, where in a high-mass, celebrated in the Provençal tongue by the Archbishop of Arles and Aix, the Gardians pay tribute to their patron St George – the same George who slayed the dragon and is patron saint of not only the English but of the Catalans too . St George gets around a bit.

After the service, the parade proceeds to the Place de la République where more official ceremonies are performed including the presentation of the Queen of Arles. 

The afternoon is taken up with Les Courses Camarguaises in the ruins of the old roman amphitheatre. Here, gardians show off their prowess on horseback as they pit themselves against the bulls. The young (more athletic) of the cohort, taunt the bull and then run and jump the perimeter fence in astonishing displays of agility amply motivated by these long-horned bulls following close behind. And so the festivities draw to a close.

This is why I love Arles, there is always something happening .