During the years I traveled extensively for business, one of the more notable things I experienced was the wealth of local festivals. These ranged from the traditional Japanese fall festivals in small towns like Konan in Shiga Prefecture to big city festivals in places like Nagoya. In New Jersey, we were twice able to attend that town's John Basilone Day parade, and I have fond memories of the many Christmas markets and accompanying celebrations when I was in Germany.
Many communities, large and small, have these traditional celebrations. While, as you might note by my mention of Japan, these are not exclusively a Western thing, it nevertheless seems as though it is only in Western civilization that these traditional festivals are under attack for being bastions of the "far right." This is a perfectly ridiculous notion, but in France, that is precisely the accusation that is being flung around, most notably by an actual communist publication.
It begins with a promotional label, intended to spread information about the many traditional celebrations in the many small towns of France.
A few months ago, an association was set up with the aim of supporting and certifying traditional festivals in French villages. The Left, which identified that the organisation had received support from Catholic billionaire Pierre-Edouard Stérin, launched a smear campaign against the project, claiming that it was a militant offensive by the far Right. Under pressure from the media, the festivals that had been awarded the label were asked to withdraw.
The ‘Les plus belles fêtes de France’ label (The Most Beautiful Festivals in France) was created in 2024 to select, reward, and promote the treasure trove of local festivals that have been enlivening French towns and countryside for generations, sometimes for centuries. Festivals supported by the label receive funding to help them run and enjoy increased visibility. These may be long-standing and well-known festivals, such as the Fêtes Johanniques, which have celebrated Joan of Arc’s victory over the English at Orléans every year for several centuries, or smaller, more intimate events centred around local specialities, such as the Fête du Piment d’Espelette in the Basque Country.
That sounds like a great idea. These festivals have no political content, no political events, other than celebration, whatever event or tradition is involved. But that didn't stop an actual communist publication from slinging dirt.
In July, the communist newspaper L’Humanité targeted the organisation, accusing it of being secretly funded by the conservative Catholic billionaire Pierre-Edouard Stérin, who has recently become a favoured target of the Left for his involvement in numerous cultural and educational projects and his proximity to the Rassemblement National (RN). Since then, panic has set in among the organisers of certified festivals, as the left-wing press is doing everything it can to suggest that they are being manipulated for the benefit of a far-right political project.
This is, of course, utter horse squeeze. Some of the festivals in question include:
- The Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid Mushroom Fair
- The Cantal region's Chestnut Fair
- The Fêtes Johanniques, in Orleans, which celebrates the victory of Joan of Arc in that city in 1429
- The Fête du Piment d'Espelette in the Basque country, which celebrates Basque culture and cuisine.
None of these are political events. The commie publication L’Humanité knows they aren't political events. They toss an accusation at Pierre-Edouard Stérin about funding the Les plus belles fêtes de France label, but offer no evidence. That's the great thing about claiming someone is "secretly funding" something, isn't it? The assertion is all that's required. This loony-left publication knows they need to offer no evidence, because he's "secretly" funding the effort.
Les plus belles fêtes de France's website gives their objective in promoting these local events, and there's nothing political in them:
The most beautiful festivals in France organize several times a year calls for applications at the end of which several traditional festival projects are awarded the association's quality label and then each become one of the “Most beautiful festivals in France”.
The selected festivals also receive financial support in organizing their event thanks to the generosity of our sponsors. These calls for applications can be national or regional. An awards ceremony is held in a prestigious venue, in the presence of numerous elected officials and journalists.
The objectives of these calls for applications are:
- Stimulating economic and cultural activity in the territories
- Creating synergies between party organizers
- Exchange of practices and training of project leaders
Calling this a "right-wing" effort is nothing short of a bad joke. But then, so much of the work done by the far-left to damage or destroy Western civilization is just that - a bad joke. The trouble is, there are always sufficient fellow travelers and useful idiots to help the left's accusations bear their rotten fruit.
And watch - if this effort works in France, if the left can cow the organizers of these lovely traditional local festivals and events, they'll take that show on the road - to other nations in Europe, and to the United States.
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Here's the bad thing: It seems a majority of these traditional French events are caving.
France Info claims that the “vast majority” of certified festivals are considering returning the label. Nothing surprising: everything has been done to achieve this, in what appears to be a well-orchestrated witch hunt. The Left is not so particular about independence and apoliticism when it comes to funding initiatives that fit its own ideological agenda.
It's almost as though that stereotype of the French being surrender-prone was really true.
