By
Adrien Deschepper
Published on
June 1, 2024 at 5:46 p.m.
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It is the emblematic event in In the Marshes ! In this small village in the Oise located a few kilometers from Beauvais, everyone is waiting for the traditional Donkey party. Organized since 2003, this event is recognized as the largest Donkey Festival in France!
A real Source of pride for the town’s festival committee, which organizes this remarkable event every two years. This Sunday June 2 2024, for the 11e edition, not less than 130 donkeys and mules coming from all over the country and Europe are expected on site. This day filled with activities, parades, exhibitions and marked by its artisans’ village and its numerous stands, should attract around 15,000 visitors.
Donkeys and mules from all over France
“This year the mascots named Valentine and Gertrude are Belgian. They arrived this Friday. In the region, an event like this is just us. And in France, of this magnitude, there is only us too”, underlines Florian Fellier, president of the festival committee. “There is really recognition for this event. On Sunday, we hope the weather will be with us but it looks good.”
The donkey in spectacle, the donkey in beauty contests, the donkey in Gymkhana, the donkey in agricultural work… We show all these sides, as well as the traditions and know-how of yesteryear where the place of the donkey was central. This year we have a red thread around the wood to explain how we fell a tree with a donkey, how we transport it…
To implement this major meeting, 180 volunteers mobilize upstream. “It’s an enormous event to organize, with a budget of more than 140,000 euros. We put a year and a half to prepare each editionwhile trying to prepare new things,” explains the organizer.
“Today, we have national and even global fame”
If this very popular event saw the light of day in 2003, it was thanks to an idea from the former mayor, Alain Fritot, for whom the donkey was a bit of a passion. “He tried this event, it worked and from year to year, it got bigger and bigger. Today, we have a national or even global reputation,” explains Florian Feller.
The donkey is a much more intelligent animal than we think. The idea is to enhance the image of this animal during a family day. It brings the territory to life.
For the organizers, the objective is above all to create a moment of “intergenerational transmission” between grandparents, parents and children in a unique setting in France.
Useful information :
11e edition of the Donkey Festival and traditions,
Municipality of Aux Marais,
Sunday June 2, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
Prices: €3 per adult entry, free for children under 12,
Dogs prohibited, free parking and shuttles available to visitors.
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