Bird King Festival

Festival Location: Le Puy-en-Velay, France

Festival Type(s): Medieval Fairs, Re-enactments, Historical Festivals

Bird King Festival Media:

The Bird King

By: © Marilyn McFarlane 2009

Walk the narrow, cobblestoned streets of the town of Le Puy-en-Velay in mid-September, and you'll swear you are in 16th-century France (if you ignore the cigarettes and cellphones). Aristocrats in fur-lined velvet cloaks stroll alongside peasants in plain tunics leading donkeys, jugglers perform, and vendors hawk meat pies. Musicians play recorders and pound drums on almost every corner. And everybody goes to Mass in the cathedral. It's all a part of the Roi de l'Oiseau (Bird King) Festival, a reminder of Le Puy-en-Velay's medieval and Renaissance heritage.

It's an amazing city, 325 miles southwest of Paris in the Upper Loire region of south-central France. Set in a valley, on a volcanic plateau, it has astounding lava peaks, an impressive cathedral , and historic landmarks. And for a week in September, it celebrates the past. Centuries ago, an archery contest was held to determine the man who could shoot the most birds from the air. He earned the envied and admired title of Bird King. Over time, the contests fell out of favor but in recent years were revived as a full-blown festival. There are still competitions with bows and arrows, but today they shoot at targets only. The kids get into the spirit as much as the adults do, dressing in period costume and capering in the streets, wielding cardboard swords and then stopping short, enthralled by singers on a square. They beg for barbe de papa (daddy's beard: cotton candy), too, which probably wasn't available to anyone 500 years ago.

On the main square, women in long, full skirts and kerchiefs bend over chickens roasting on smoky outdoor spits. Stilt-walkers stride among the tented stalls, and crowds cluster around the knife-sharpeners and craftsmen, the troubadours and knights in armor. Lacemakers sell their delicate wares and shops on the main streets offer the region's famous green liqueur, Vervaine. Occasionally you'll see a group of pilgrims in simple clothing carrying staffs with scallop shells; they represent the pilgrims of old on their way to Saint Jacques de Compostela in Spain. Scallops are Saint Jacques' symbol. Le Puy-en-Velay is one of the main stops on the pilgrimage.

Tourists, mostly French, come by the hundreds to get a taste of long-ago days and enjoy the week-long festivities. Foreigners who don't speak the language miss most of the jokes the street performers holler, but they chortle anyway, because everyone else is laughing uproariously. Taverns and restaurants are crammed with merrymakers poring over menus that feature regional foods and historic dishes. Green lentils, one of the region's important crops, are a specialty in Le Puy-en-Velay and served in myriad ways – mostly, prepared simply as a side dish. Distinct in flavor, considered the best of all lentils, they're served all year, but get special attention during Roi de l'Oiseau. I considered it a good sign that the menus I saw listed plenty of lentils and no birds but duck and pigeon.

by Marilyn McFarlane

Bird King Festival Photos:

Bird King Festival Dates and Location

The Bird King Festival takes place in Le Puy-en-Velay in the Loire region of south-central France each September. For more information visit: Office de Tourisme, Place du Clauzel, 43000 Le Puy-en-Velay, France or check out Le Puy-en-Velay web site.