“We are proud of our maritime traditions”: 350 “monsailons” paraded for Escale à Sète 2024

The parade of sailors on the Aspirant-Herber quay. Midi Libre – Dorian Cayuela

In music or in images, Brittany was in the spotlight during the sailors' parade. Midi Libre – Dorian Cayuela

Les membres du Bagad du Pays d'Aix. Midi Libre – Dorian Cayuela

Ce mercredi 27 mars, plus 350 enfants ont marché dans les rues de la ville à l’occasion du "défilé des moussaillons". Un événement qui a rassemblé toutes les générations.

They left the Criée, walked up the Aspirant-Herber quay to the Savonnerie bridge, to the rhythm of drums and bagpipes. This Wednesday afternoon, around 350 children walked in the streets of Sète on the occasion of the "parade of the moussaillons". Accompanied by various traditional formations (the Bagad of the Pays d'Aix, the Bandina tradicional Xacara, the Doedelzaks of the coast and the Giants of Boulogne-sur-Mer), the cabin boys, all dressed in white and flanked by ;rsquo;a red waistcoat, came from the city’s leisure centers.

All generations were gathered this Wednesday afternoon. Midi Libre – Dorian Cayuela

"I hope to be able to sail one day"

In the middle of the procession of children, many tricolor scarves from the municipal youth council. Among them, Mounir, in fourth grade, made his first parade. "Usually, I just come to see the boats. Today, I am participating to show that we are proud of our maritime traditions." Living in the city center, the young man who has his sea legs hopes "to be able to sail one day".

At the head of the procession, we find the Bagad of the Pays d’Aix, who opens the march with binious force, bombards and tambourines. Suzanne, a sixty-year-old, holds the training badge. "I am from Marseillaise but Breton at heart, here we are all lovers of the sea", she confides. Bringing together all ages around the same passion for the sea and its universe, that’s also the strength of the Escale à Sète festival.