From pig squeals to menhir throwing, the race for unusual games

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The wacky events organized by small towns during the summer season are enjoying growing success. "Libé" has selected a few of the unlikely events taking place in the coming weeks.

At the A fond la cale festival, in Saint-Martin-de-Bréhal, in the Manche department. (Marie-Claude Vergne)

Inspired by the Granville carnival (Manche), the village of Saint-Martin-de-Bréhal, ten kilometers away, created its own annual event twenty-five years ago. This is how the A fond la cale festival was born, the highlight of which is undoubtedly the "ofni" (for "unidentified floating objects") race, scheduled for August 3 this year. A high-octane regatta where participants compete aboard improbable boats, a sort of sea tanks imagined and built by them.

Like Saint-Martin-de-Bréhal, French towns are showing imagination when it comes to attracting visitors. In recent years, these events have multiplied. From dung bingo to animal call contests, including the most outlandish races and throwing championships, there's something for everyone. "We're seeing a race for inventiveness," analyzes Laurent Sébastien Fournier, professor of anthropology at the Côte d'Azur University in Nice and author of the book Festive Ecology: Festivals, Fruits and Vegetables (Presses universitaires d'Aix-Marseille, 2