The Jours de fête festival in Fontaine d’Ouche ended in a warm atmosphere this Saturday, May 28 with the Métis Parade mobilizing 500 people to “show the diversity, the richness, the complementarity in a district rich in all its differences”, as indicated the deputy mayor of Dijon Christine Martin.

A colorful parade under an almost cloudless sky. The Métis Parade kept its promises this Saturday, May 28, 2022 in the Fontaine d’Ouche district in Dijon.

About 450 people made up the Métis Parade itself, to which are added about fifty volunteers from Unis-cité, UNASS first aiders and municipal police officers to supervise the event.

Many structures mobilized to bring the Métis Parade to life

Within the parade were the giant puppets of the Archibald Caramantran company, coming from Carpentras (Vaucluse) with the Congo Massa group. The Grand Jeté company of Frédéric Cellé and Pauline Maluski, from Cluny (Saône-et-Loire), accompanied the young dancers while the Manie company, from Dijonnais Vincent Regnard and Luc Thomas, supervised the young circus artists.

Mathieu Louvrier and Chacha Boudin led visual arts workshops presented during the parade. The dancers of Chenôve Koulé Kréyol closed the parade to the rhythm of a batucada.

The young participants are school and college students from the neighborhood. The dance conservatory of the University of Burgundy also got involved, as well as the Malraux college and the Cercle laïc dijonnais. According to the editions, more and more, structures outside the district ask to be part of the parade.

Normally, before the health crisis, the show attracted around 1,500 people. A difficult gauge to reach on this bridge day favoring weekend departures.

“We parade, we walk with the puppets, with the groups of dancers”

“The 2022 edition is special because it had been two years since we were deprived of the Métis Parade. Last year, it was in the courtyard of the Rameau college. That’s what a parade is. We parade, we walk with the puppets, with the groups of dancers, we really missed it, ”says Christine Martin (PS), deputy mayor of Dijon in charge of culture, entertainment and festivals, while the The party is in full swing at the village of associations on Place André-Gervais.

“The time is there, the public is there, the meaning is found, it’s great. The meaning is “doing together, doing with”. Creations of artists and inhabitants, it is how to show the diversity, the richness, the complementarity in a district rich in all its differences”, she adds.

Apart from the deputy mayor of Dijon councillors, several elected officials are present including the departmental opposition Massar N’Diaye (without label) and Céline Maglica (PS), as well as the municipal councilor Delphine Blaya (PS) and the councilor municipal opposition Emmanuel Bichot (LR).

Presence of legislative candidates

Electoral campaign requires, some candidates for the legislative elections in the first constituency of the Côte-d’Or came to discuss with the inhabitants such as François-Xavier Dugourd (LR-UDI), Antoine Peillon (LFI, NUPES) and Sladana Zivkovic (various left ).

Leaving from the end of the Avenue du Lac, the Métis Parade turned into activities at the level of the village of associations, arrival point of the parade, until the end of the afternoon, thus continuing to punctuate this Saturday from District of the Fontaine d’Ouche.

Jean-Christophe Tardivon