For ten days and ten nights, the Festival Interceltique in
Lorient brings together more than 5,000 musicians, singers, dancers, visual
artists, academics and film-makers from around the world to celebrate shared
Celtic heritage.
The Grande Parade des Nations Celtes is watched by thousandsJean-Noël Lévêque / Festival Interceltique
This includes performers from Scotland, Ireland, Wales,
Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Galicia, Asturias and (naturally) Brittany, as well
as from the Celtic diaspora around the world. For this year’s editions, the
theme is Les Cousins d’Amérique (American Cousins) with invitees from Acadia to
Louisiana, via Quebec, New Brunswick, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Boston
and New York.
The first Sunday is notable for the Grand Parade of Celtic
Nations, which attracts over 80,000 spectators to the streets of Lorient. Up to
950,000 visitors and spectators come each year.
Runs from August 1-10. Book tickets for specific shows here.
Since 2004, the streets and parks in the Breton village of La Gacilly (Morbihan) have
been transformed every summer into a huge, easily accessible open air
photographic exhibition space.
Today it is Europe’s biggest open air art gallery, with up
to 300,000 avid photography lovers enjoying images from around the world, with
recurrent themes of environmental and societal issues.
This year’s festival also features a separate theme called
‘So British!’, with works by ten British snappers including Don McCullin,
Martin Parr, Terry O’Neill.
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“The British photographers we are honouring this
summer have this singular style. They’re so British because they know how to
cleverly capture a soul: the soul of an era, the soul of a country, the human
soul,” say organisers.
Born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, Charles Frederick Worth
(1825-1895) has been described as the forefather of haute couture.
Worth, Inventing haute coutureEric Emo/Paris Musées/Palais Galliera/Musée De La Mode De La Ville De Paris
Not only did
he found a fashion house that became the epitome of Parisian luxury, but Worth
was also a pioneer – he was the first designer to replace the fashion dolls
with live models in order to promote his garments to clients, who included
European royalty such as Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.
A sprawling retrospective of his work comes to the grand
galleries of the Petit Palais in Paris, with 400 works (including clothing,
objects and accessories, paintings and graphics) telling the House of Worth
story.
“It promises to be an exceptional exhibition, given the fragility of the
pieces on display, the number of silhouettes (almost 80) and the way in which a
world in the making and its legacy are portrayed, based on extensive
documentation,” says the museum. Tea-gown, circa 1896-1897, pictured below.
If it’s nocturnal enchantment you seek, then the
Métamorph’eau’ses night boat trips around illuminated buildings on the rivers
Mau and Nau in Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne) are perfect.
To mark the show’s 10th anniversary, a brand new animated
fresco was unveiled on the Pont des Mariniers, on Saturday July 4.
Métamorph’eau’ses, a nautical journey of light and sound, sails every evening
in August, price €18.
Métamorph’eau’ses night boat tripChristophe Manquillet
