Guernsey Press

St Peter Port hosts day of events showing our heritage

HUNDREDS passed by the Fete de la Langue Normande this weekend, which took place in various locations around Town.

Published
Some Town shoppers were bemused by the parade of the participants in Fete de la Langue Normande down the High Street on Saturday. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 21811276)

Groups from Jersey and Normandy were invited to the island for a spectacle of song, dance and poetry to celebrate the island’s heritage.

It has been taking place since the year 2000 and last took place in 2015. It rotates between Guernsey, Jersey and France on a three-year-cycle.

Around 60 people took to the stage at Market Square throughout the morning as small crowds gathered in the sun.

La Guaine du Vouest singers were joined by L’Assembllaie d’Guernesiais’s traditional dancers.

Later in the afternoon people were invited to the stage to present poems and short stories.

Regular Eisteddfod performer and radio DJ Richard Harding read a story in Guernsey-French about a young man and a parrot.

‘The event is a fantastic chance to celebrate the shared Norman heritage in music, dance and spoken performances. It’s a reminder that, for most of Guernsey and the Bailiwick’s history, Normandy and France were the main cultural influences not mainland Britain,’ said Mr Harding.

In the crowd, social worker Elizabeth Phibbs, 28, said she had enjoyed basking in the atmosphere throughout the day.

‘I’ve walked past a few times on my way through Town and I think it’s great, it’s good to be proud of our heritage. They’re like our version of Morris dancers, they should be at more events I think,’ she said.

Harry Tomlinson, president of the organising Le Coumite de la Culture Guernesiaise, said: ‘This is an opportunity for people to get together who are all doing the same thing by trying to save what remains of the Norman language.’

He added that people would not necessarily have to understand Norman French to get an understanding of what was happening as the proceedings were very visual.