Experience traditional Breton folk dancing at the Festival de la Saint-Loup!

From 19 – 23 August, 2015, the Festival de la Saint-Loup will be taking place in the market town of Guingamp on Brittany’s Cotes d’Armor.

More than 2,500 traditional Celtic musicians, artists and dancers will descend on Guingamp in mid-August to celebrate this 60-year-old festival that seems to grow in popularity each year. Amongst this year’s line-up include The Silencers, Alan Stivell, Denez Prigent and Jean-Francois Quemener, and many, many more.

The first Festival de la Saint-Loup was held in 1863 and was a mere gathering amongst Breton folk in a field close to the Chateau de Runvarec. The festival was in celebration of the opening of the Paris and Guingamp railway. The following year the festivities were in honour of the new gasworks that were opened in the town.

Over the years, the festival has steadily grown and eventually head to Guingamp’s town centre. Since 1957 the Festival de la Saint-Loup has been hosted by the National Breton Dancing Championships.

Though if football is more your thing than Breton folk music, you may want to visit Guingamp for an entirely different reason. En Avant de Guingamp is one of Brittany’s most prestigious football teams. In 2014 the Guingamp team celebrated victory over Rennes in the Coupe de France, a triumph that gave the town yet another famous day to celebrate.

If neither folk music nor football is up your street, with its well-preserved architectural heritage, rich history, pretty boutiques and plethora of outdoor activities, Guingamp is a fabulous town to visit all year round.