The last weekend of June!
La Tarasque… a 700-year-old legend that wakes up the city and makes the heart of Tarascon beat even today, every year on the last weekend of June. A traditional and popular event not to be missed, if you are in the area…
A 700 year old legend
Around 1255, Jacques de Voragine* described the Tarasque in “The Golden Legend”:
“There was at that time […] a dragon half animal-half fish, thicker than an ox, longer than a horse with teeth like swords and as big as horns, which was armed on each side of two shields.
According to legend, while the boat transporting the Tarasque to an amphitheater was shipwreck, the beast slipped into the Rhône and took up residence near the rock on which King René's castle would later be built. This extraordinary creature then terrorizes the inhabitants of Tarascon, whose multiple attempts to get rid of it remain unsuccessful.
Sainte-Marthe, patroness of the Tarasconnais
Also, one day in the year 48, Saint Martha came to evangelize Basse-Provence and arrived in Tarascon. At the request of the inhabitants, she decides to confront the beast. Helped by her faith and the Christian cross, she tames the Tarasque and obtains its submission. She then puts a leash around her neck and delivers her to the Tarasconnais who kill her.
Obviously, there are different versions, both on the legend itself and on the description of the Tarasque, the representation of which is visible at the Cordeliers-museum of Art and History. It is also represented on the city's coat of arms and on church entrances.
*Jacques de Voragine, who died in 1298 in Genoa, was an Italian chronicler of the Middle Ages, who became archbishop of Genoa and author of The Golden Legend, a famous work recounting the lives of a large number of saints, Christian martyrs, who suffered the persecutions of the Romans.
THE TARASQUE FESTIVAL ARE REGISTERED AS A UNESCO INTANGIBLE HERITAGE
Originally
On April 14, 1474, King René created the “Jeux de la Tarasque”, half-religious, half-secular festivals, bringing the castle back to life. In order to reduce the social differences between the inhabitants of Tarascon and to honor the city's motto “Concordia Felix”, more than a hundred characters are interpreted by the Tarasconnais themselves. During the festive days, a Tarasque race is also created, the monster first made of cardboard, then of wood, walks the streets and the inhabitants of Tarascon participate in the great parade of corporations, games and dances.
Tarascon town hall
Nowadays
Between religious and Provençal tradition, the Tarasque Festivals take place on the last weekend of June and make the heart of Tarascon beat for four days. They celebrate not only Sainte-Marthe and the Tarasque but also Alphonse Daudet and his famous character Tartarin de Tarascon. The occasion also offers tens of thousands of visitors medieval activities within the castle and, for lovers of Camargue traditions, several bullfighting events.
Since 2005, the Tarasque Festivals have been listed as an oral and intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO.
The Order of the Knights of Tarasque
Founded on April 14, 1474 by King René in order to maintain the Tarasque Festivals with dignity, the Order of the Knights of the Tarasque has well-established statutes:
- Celebrate the “Tarasque Games” at least six times per century
- Respect the ceremony, do everything to make the celebrations ever brighter, for fifty days
- Give foreigners the best welcome during the festivities
In the past, the number of Knights of the Tarasque, more commonly called “Tarascaïres”, could vary from twelve to eighteen. They were chosen from among the city's notables and inducted on Easter Monday. They named their leader, “the Abbot”, in other words their Grand Master who was the organizer of the Tarasque Games.
Today, there are nearly ten of them and they can be recognized, during local festivities, by their parade costume made up of a white satin shirt, pink pants, a hat with a pink plume and white. The latter was found and redesigned by Christian Guiot, currently at the head of the Tarascaïres, for more than forty years.
See you at the Fêtes de la Tarasque: the last weekend of June in Tarascon