For someone who loves a good countryside festival, living in Bazas has been one of my best life decisions! It’s the longest I’ve ever lived in one town in my whole life at this point, which is rather crazy to think about. I fell in love with Bazas when I was visiting my husbands family in the summers while we lived in Paris. His maternal grandmother was born here, her father the fishmonger in the bottom of the ‘maison l’astronome‘. This house is one of the most beautiful in Bazas, from the 1500’s on the cathedral square. Having family connections makes it all the more special that our children are growing up here.
Bazas is famous for it’s cattle, the bazadaise, but also locally for it’s many incredible festivals which are held multiple times a year. As the main town for a lot of smaller countryside communities, Bazas can attract up to 20,000 people for it’s fete des boeufs gras around Carnival (Mardi Gras). Thats massive for a town of under 5,000! Here are some of the great festivals if you need an excuse to come to Bazas. Please feel free to reach out and say hello if you make it!
Fete des Boeufs Gras, or the festival of the fat cow, when our prized grey coated cattle are marched through the streets. Since the 13th century, la Fête des Bœufs Gras is a day during which the finest specimens of the bazadaise breed, and only this local breed, are paraded around town, preceded by a procession of folk dancers, and fifes (small, high-pitched flutes) and drum music. Be sure to book your table at a restaurant a month in advance and arrive before 11am to enjoy the town! One of the unique parts is you can find a poster to tell you where the cattle will end up, be it the local butcher or supermarket…a real farm-to-table experience! One winter it was below freezing and I’ll never forget my sister Ellen and I shivering but loving to watch the event regardless. You’ll smell grilled steaks all over town, with plenty of options to try the famed meat. Oh and the seared foie gras baguette sold on the street from our local green grocer, that’s also a winner. You can read more here History of Fete des Boeufs Gras – Aquitaine Travel Guide
Mothers Day Flower Market, Fete des Fleurs in French, which is a plant lovers paradise with all sorts of herbs, annual flowers, roses, fruit trees and aromatics. This year, 2025, they had a dj which added a lot of fun to the atmosphere (sunshine helped as well!). As there are so many great restaurants in town, its great to book in advance to enjoy the ambiance. Vendors with flower or local connections are on sale as well!
The key to the city is presented to the people on Friday, the day before the long weekend where the streets are closed at night for music and open bars. The summer solstice fete de Saint Jean (our cathedrals namesake) is a big weekend for young people, the local rugby team, and the children who frequent the fun fair. The whole of the town is open for pedestrians until the early hours of the morning. My favorite part of the festival is the last night. You’ll arrive earlier to get your cross covered in dried flowers to put on your home for protection, typically blessed by the local priest. Then we have a parade with dancing, a bazadaise cow marched into the square, and fires in front of the cathedral. You will see people jumping through the flames until the fires are put out. This is usually on a school night but we all bring our children out to enjoy the event! In this part of France the sun doesn’t go down until around 1030pm, so it goes late!
Hunting season brings the Fete de la Palombe, our celebration of the start of the wood pigeon hunting season. You’ll see the blinds made from ferns in the town square, pigeons out on display, and even some pigeons being blessed in the cathedral. Our mayor will come out into town with her favorite pigeon and the brotherhood, confrerie, of the palombe will also parade around town with some of these elegant birds. If you’re lucky, you’ll score a place at the communal table to enjoy a feast with all of the local palombe lovers. We closed on our house the day of the festival almost a decade ago and I’ll never forget hearing the pigeon calling contest, thinking I can’t wait to live here. Read more here The Tradition of Palombe Hunting in South-West France – Aquitaine Travel Guide
Christmas we also have a Christmas market, but it feels like a festival, with lots of vendors, pony rides, carriage rides around the town, and plenty of Christmas spirit! That evening a live nativity scene, creche vivant, with animals is in front the cathedral. It’s another great excuse to visit Bazas!
To find out the dates of these festivals, or manifestations, check the cities posting here https://www.ville-bazas.fr/evenement/le-nouvel-agenda-2025-des-manifestations/
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