Festival of Giants will be held 10 to 12 Jul 2016 in Douai, France. Festival of Giants is one of the largest festivals in France and the most spectacular and in-your-face visually grand event. Time may pass but every year at the beginning of July, the elegant pinnacles of Douai’s impressive bell tower look down on the same scene. The town is packed with people jostling to get a good view of the ‘kings’ of the city – the annual outing of the giants, or ‘gayants’ in local dialect. Floats, costumed characters and bands accompany the cavalcade of figures that date back to the Middle Ages. These giants are not simple statues; they are moving giants! They are made of wood and people carry them around during the festival. The giants measure between six and eight and half meters in length (20 to 25 ft). They are really heavy and are carried by six men who hide under the giants’ clothes. There could hardly be a better setting for an event that references so many European cross cultural currents and historical precedents. Get used to looking skyward, although your neck might get a little stiff. You would love this festival because it reminds you of being a child when everything was so much bigger than you were. Festival of Giants is an event and I like events...
The whole procession started in 1479, although the current giants date to at least 1530. While there's a lot of partying and carrying on at the festival – a chance for the normal folk to blow some steam off – it's fair to say the march of the giants has a monarchial bent. When the Gayant family comes through town, the implication is they are royalty inspecting their kingdom, basking in the adoration of their subjects.
On the Sunday after July 5, Douali – and a sizable chunk of tourists – turns out for the three-day Festival of Giants. There's a Mardi Gras atmosphere to the whole shebang. Community organizations and similar groups get into costumes ranging from the medieval-inspired to Lady Gaga haute weird. Music is played (including an innovative bell organ connected to Douali's Belfry, which sits above the iconic city hall). Street food is fried.
But the main event is the Gayant family, which consists of father Gayant, his wife Marie Cagenon, and their three children – teenage Jacquot, maiden daughter Fillon and baby Binbin.
Monsieur Gayant is the biggest giant around, towering over the crowds at around 28 feet high and weighing in at approximately 815 pounds. He comes dressed in armor, with sword in hand and shield by his side, possibly because his image was inspired by the actions (but not necessarily looks) of Jehon Gelon, a 9th-century lord who liberated Douali from the Normans. The wicker frame of the statue was built by the local Basket Making Guild.
Marie Cagenon , built under the patronage of the "Guild of Fruiterers," is a comparatively slight lass, but that's all relative when you're dealing with her husband; she's a big old giant too at the end of the day, measuring 20 feet high and around 550 pounds. The rest of the 'family' measures in at a relatively petit seven feet.
Accompanied by their three children – Jacquot, the perpetual teenager; Fillon, the fair-haired daughter; and Binbin, a lad weighing 45kg – the couple lead a three-day dance which draws a Sunday crowd of 80,000 for one of France’s major parades.