Celebrating the old way of rural life in Brittany

If you want to find out how they did it in the old days, then the Fete des Vieux Metiers (festival of old trades) at Baud is for you. Begun over 20 years ago, this annual recreation of Breton rural life a century ago is well worth the modest entrance fee as the thousands who visit each year can testify. Organised by the ‘Quartier des Bois’ – a committee of volunteers drawn from the local community -the event is staged each August on a wooded site equipped with more than 40 permanent, rustic ‘cabanes’ (stalls) where craftsmen and women show off their skills and sell their wares. Demonstrations range from charcoal-burning and rope-making, to coffee roasting and basketry; lace-making and crochet to clog-making and millinery. A host of food stalls offer freshly-prepared refreshments for visitors to enjoy and, being France, there’s the chance to share in a communal sit-down meal, or ‘repas’.

More than a craft fair

Being far more than simply a craft fair, oxen and heavy horses are put to work on surrounding farmland demonstrating all stages in the food production process from ploughing to bringing in the harvest. Cows are milked by hand, butter is churned and apples pressed to make cider. Threshing machines long outstripped by the modern combine harvester, chug and judder their way through sheaves of corn alongside vintage cars and tractors, all lovingly restored.

Rural life on show

Every aspect of rural life is on show here. Down by the stream which runs through the site, women squat by the large, flat stones to demonstrate how the laundry was done in the days before washing machines; as well as being hard work – all that rubbing, scrubbing and slapping – it’s clear that laundry day was a very social occasion, an opportunity to exchange gossip and share jokes.
Baud, a small district administrative centre in the Morbihan region of Brittany, sits at the cross-roads of major North-South and East-West routes. The Fete des Vieux Metiers is well sign-posted for several kilometres on most approaches to the town. There is ample car-parking provided on fields surrounding the event site.

The town of Baud website has details here (in French).

If your thinking of holidaying in Brittany check out our travel guide for information and tips about travelling from Britain to Brittany.

If you’re looking for holiday accommodation take a look at our villas in Brittany.