Since 1958 the town of Confolens (16 Charente, Nouvelle Aquitaine) south of Poitiers holds an annual Confolens Festival (le Festival de Confolens) in August (9 – 15 August 2022) that has now become a major event for folk music and dancing across the world.
With more than 500 artists from 5 continents the town is bustling with thousands of visitors and music and dancing in the streets in colourful traditional costumes. This otherwise quiet small town on the banks of the Vienne river is transformed with an opening gala in the main square, parades, concerts, workshops other entertainments.
It could be a bit of a shock if you don’t expect it, in this very rural, agricultural part of western France, which is not far off your route if you are heading for the Dordogne or Lot valleys from the western Channel ports.
for more info on the Confolens Festival see www.festivaldeconfolens.com/
Confolens is located at the confluence of the Vienne and Goire rivers. This location is at the origin of its name. Confolens is also at the point where the Charente and Limousin regions meet, hence the name sometimes used to describe the area of “Charente Limousine”.
Confolens was built around a fortress first mentioned in the eleventh century. It still has picturesque remnants of its medieval past, including city walls and several houses dating from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. It also features a bridge first mentioned in the fourteenth century.
In the nineteenth century, Confolens developed itself as the administrative center for a considerable agriculture area, due to its role as sous-prefecture and the distance of all other major towns (Angoulême, Limoges and Poitiers are all about 70 kilometres away). It has several handsome nineteenth century administrative buildings, some of which were built by Paul Abadie, who was very active in the region.
There has been limited further urbanization in the twentieth century. The population of the town has aged, and the number of agriculture and industrial jobs have declined. British and Dutch have been acquiring property in and around the town, and now form a significant presence. wikipedia
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