Well it turned out to be more than just donkeys. It was like your true village fete. There were rides and a big food and drink tent and a dancing display.
But first the donkeys. There were several donkey breeders there and there had been a donkey and cart parade that we had obviously missed, for I could see the remnants of the carts around the paddocks. But when I arrived there were genuine donkey races around a small track they had created in one of the paddocks. Various people from kids to adults rode the donkeys bareback, although some had a set of reins to have more control. Talk about animals having a mind of their own!!!! None of the donkeys were too stubborn, but they certainly didn't go where their riders wanted them to! Various friends also tried racing the donkeys on push bikes and on foot, so it was a bit chaotic but lots of fun and certainly got lots of crowd support. Two of the donkeys had recently foaled, and it was interesting to see that the organisers included the foals in the race on leading strings, so that they would not be separated from their mothers, or vice versa (I'm not sure). The foals were gorgeous - very cute. After the racing, you could wander round and look at all the donkeys and talk to the various breeders.
However my biggest interest was in the dancing display. They had set up a huge covered marquee with dancing floor in an adjacent paddock, and one of the featured highlights of the day was a display by the dancing group called Bourges XIXc - Association K'Danse.
This group turned out to be a dance display group from Bourges (the nearby large regional centre and a lovely place), who specialised in dances from the 19th century. As you can imagine, this caught my attention as it sounded very like Colonial dancing, which I have now been doing for over 20 years!!! I watched the group perform several dances in traditional costumes (more on that in a minute) and the dances were the same as we do at home - quadrilles, polkas, mazurkas, scottishs, waltzs, circle dances, etc. I recognised several of the dances and would have loved to join them, but it was a display only.
So I spoke to the organiser / president of the group and explained (in French) that I did this dancing in Australia and had been in display teams etc (of course I had to mention the Edinburgh Tattoo Display as a highlight, even if if it was a long time ago). I was interested in joining their practices for the 6 - 7 weeks I would be in the area, but alas it was not to be. Once again it was a closed shop - just like Montpellier. The reason this time was that although, it was an amateur display group, they all made their own costumes (and of course I didn't have one) and you had to take out a minimum of one year's subscription with the group - they didn't accept people for less time. So a pleasant and surprising interlude, but no opportunity to join in unless I was based there for some considerable time.
Re the costumes, as said, they made them all by hand and they were made to original patterns. There were no modern zips or buttons - it was all lace up at the back etc. The dresses were predominantly satin and looked beautiful. The women based their costumes on the period 1850 - 1870 (2nd Empire in France) when the crinoline was very popular and the men wore either very sober white shirt, black jacket and white gloves or military uniform, which was very popular at the time.
In addition, they were accompanied by another local historical group who specialised in period costumes of the local rural population - smocks, scarves, lace hats for the women, and clogs for the feet, etc.
Most of the dancing was done to live music played by 3 hurdy gurdies and some pipes, although a few dances were done to taped music.
The whole display reminded me a lot of home and I really missed not being able to get up and dance, but it was fun to watch. For my dancing friends, their website is www.ville-bourges.fr/nouvelles-de-bourges if you are interested
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