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Bazas (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) celebrates the local tradtion of fatted oxen (Fete des Boeufs Gras). Originating from 1283 under the reign of the English Edward I, when the locals were required to provide the Archbishop of Bazas with a splendid beast, this festival celebrates the local tradition of rearing the special breed of oxen in this small but important town on the northern edge of the Landes forest, just south of the Garonne River. This year it takes place on 23 February 2006.
As such it is a bit of a beauty contest, where the best animals are judged, in the midst of a parade, bands playing and inevitably a good bit of beef and local wine being consumed (the nearest being Cotes du Marmandais). Nowadays the judging is on the basis of the quality of the meat, but in earllier times the beef were fattened as much for the tallow for candles as for meat!! Inevitably in France there is a revered brotherhood for the Bazas beef - la Confrérie Bazadaise du Boeuf where men dress up in silly costumes and perform some obscure rituals - but it all goes to make for enertainment and to celebrate the region’s produce. For more info see www.ville-bazas.fr

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Keywords: France,Wine,Beef,Aquitaine,Gironde,Landes,Bazas