Dax Fair 2025: What we won't see elsewhere

The Dax Feria, from August 13 to 17, 2025, is a distillation of the best of Southwest festivities. And then there are a few highlights not to be missed, if you want to sink your teeth into it.

It is one of the most official athletics events, with a 10-kilometer course measured and approved by the French Athletics Federation, and limited to 5,500 participants. To participate, you must have a license (6% of runners), or the Health Prevention Course certificate (94% of registrants).

Some participants are in costume, others are sweating it out for a personal challenge, even if it's sometimes their only race of the year. Still others are there to set a time on a relatively flat course. In any case, it's with effort that most participants decide to kick off these five days of festivities.

We can therefore understand the strategic challenge of organizing the event on the first morning, before the official opening of the feria, to then make way for other disciplines. The time of last year's winner, Étienne Daguinos (Talence), of 28 min 55 s, is just as good as that of the 10 kilometers of Paris, and the specialized site "Reference trail" ranks the Feriascapade among the ten most beautiful 10 kilometers in France to run in a lifetime.

The Grand Concours Landais of the Dacquoise fair, also called the Bullfighting Cup, which takes place on the opening evening of the festivities, has attracted bullfighters from Chalosse, Tursan and Gers every year for seventy years. The highlight of a bullfighting season that includes many other competitions, it is also referred to as the "finale" before its time, it is an unmissable event and champion-maker.

Above all, it's the last match of the season before the French championship, which takes place in the fall (October 5 in the Mont-de-Marsan arena this year). Winning here, as Jérôme Costarramone explained in 2024, the year he won his French championship title, gives you confidence: "I must admit that my motivation was increased tenfold when I arrived on the day of the championship."

For those who have never attended this competition, which can sometimes last for more than three hours, the best spreaders and jumpers from the four ganaderias will be present: Armagnacaise, DAL, Dargelos and Deyris. A favorite arena of jumper Kevin Ribeiro, who excels at home, tickets are generally sold out before 9:30 p.m., the start of the show.

Dax and rugby, rugby and Dax. It's hard to miss the Maurice-Boyau stadium without shuddering. A few mammoth kicks further on, the Drop'Adour, which has been held for fourteen years, is a must-see sporting event of the feria, which involves kicking an oval ball from the banks of the city center, over the river, between posts installed on the other bank, near the Sablar district.

And so, if successful, follow the path of the most illustrious and famous Dax specialist in kicking and rugby witticism, Pierre Albaladejo. The "chosen ones" from the clubs of Mimizan, Tartas, Narrosse, Rion-Morcenx, Tyrosse, Aire-sur-l'Adour, Villeneuve-de-Marsan, Peyrehorade, Saint-Paul-lès-Dax, Hagetmau, Dax, Stade Montois, the Drop de béton associations and the veterans of Lous Charnegous will try to reach the Grail.

As for the distance, we recall that the record in an international match belongs to a Landais, Anthony Bouthier, who threw the ball the incredible distance of... 95 meters.

This is another particularity of the Dax Feria: the place taken by the bandas, which have the merit of mobility, from the musical awakening to the late pasacalle. There are seven of them to walk the streets, to make a passage in the middle of the crowd, carrying with them, in a coppery whirlwind, numerous festayres for hundreds of meters, until the next stop, in front of the counter of their choice, to make the most skeptical dance.

Los Calientes, Los Chocarreros, Los Daltons, Los Campesinos, Los Gatchos, Los Copleros, La Txunga: each is made up of around forty musicians on average and their respective repertoires make you want to follow them until the end of the night.

They are also found in a more religious format on the occasion of the bandas mass, Friday, August 15, or in a more spectacular format, during the bullfights, between each bull. Finally, they are found in a much more solemn format, all together, in the bullring, on the last day of the festivities, but also at the time of the opening of the festivities.

This is a new feature that dates back to 2023, but it seems to grow a little taller every year! The giants, who take on the features of characters from local tradition, number five so far: a sixth character will be presented on the day of the opening ceremony, Wednesday, August 13 at 12:45 p.m., in the town hall park.

After the goddess of the Nehe, the centurion and his dog, the bullfighter and the cow, it's time for the bullfighter. They will serve as beacons in the white and red storm, especially for Children's Day and the opening ceremony. Strength and honor to the bearers, who are recruited by the town hall to bring these timeless characters to life and who illustrate the daytime celebration well.

Seasons come and go, but they're all different. But what's certain is that bullfighting enthusiasts have had the opportunity to see a bull emerge alive from the Dax arenas several times in recent years. This is called the "indulto," and some wait a lifetime of bullfighting thrills before witnessing a pardon.

Desgarbado, bull from Victoriano del Rio, in 2008; Lebrero, bull from the Santiago Domecq ganaderia , ten years later; then Sardinero, bull from La Quinta , in 2022, and finally Delicado, bull from Santiago Domecq again, in 2024. No one would be crazy enough to predict the date and the shoe of the next bull to be pardoned in Dax, as bullfighting is so full of hazards, good or bad fortune.

Has this fifth bull even been born, fit to be pardoned? Will his promising genetics give him the necessary character? Will his presentation be enough to get him selected in a batch for Dax? Who will he have to fight, and what will the temperature be in the arena that day?

If there's one place that's become a must-see at the Dax Feria, it's the Cantadores' marquee, at the foot of the cathedral, which can accommodate more than 1,500 revelers at a time. The Cercle choral dacquois, a men's choir founded in 1886, swaps its religious or Gascon songs for a more festive repertoire, in order to perpetuate the tradition with a few of the festival's enduring hymns.

"1980s" karaoke is definitely what works best with partygoers, all day long. But several times a day, the male choir takes to the stages, songbooks are distributed, and there is only one language, fraternal, whether the lyrics are Basque, Spanish, French, or Gascon.

"Emiliano Baratapas", "La Camioneta de mi papa", "Vino Griego", "Les Fêtes de Mauléon", this is the place to take hold of a traditional and timeless repertoire, with an audience that is often intergenerational and always motivated.

Agur is the moment not to be missed, the last day of the holidays, when we start to get very tired and it is time to say goodbye and see you next year.

In Dax, it's all about music, in the arenas or on a giant screen, from the Théodore-Denis park, just after the last bullfight. The Agur brings to a close five days and five nights of festivities in white and red, and consists of three pieces, performed by all the bandas, who take their positions on the ring: the paso doble "Paquito el chocolatero" opens the ball, then "La Dacquoise aux yeux noirs", which in 2023 replaced "Vino Griego" (which was too reminiscent of the Aviron Bayonnais anthem).

Finally, the "Agur Jaunak", this Basque song more commonly called the "Agur", brings the ceremony to a close. It is this last piece that is sung to pay tribute to someone, both in weddings and in festive gatherings, which serves as a farewell to the festayres. The ceremony is also broadcast live on TVPI , for those who will not be lucky enough to be there.