Three-and-a-half-thousand hungry Alsatians wolf down platters of charcuterie and periodically burst into noisy chorus.
No, it is not the police dogs’ annual convention, but the latest iteration of a feasting phenomenon that is sweeping provincial France.
The Alsace town of Colmar – famous for its half-timbered medieval centre – was the scene last weekend of one of the banquets géants – huge banquets whose popularity in the country has suddenly become a hot political issue.
Run by a company called Le Canon Français (The French Cannon), the banquets are massively attended – €81 (£70) buying you four courses of local gastronomy, all the wine you can drink, and several hours of sing-along camaraderie.
But not everyone is cheering. For the radical left party La France Insoumise (LFI – France Unbowed), the banquets have a dark side.
LFI says it has evidence of racist chanting, and of immigrant staff being insulted. With pork regularly on the menu, they say the feasts are purposely designed to exclude Muslims and vegetarians.
And they point to the financial involvement of an ultra-conservative entrepreneur called Pierre-Edouard Stérin as evidence of a masked ulterior motivation – to promote the agenda of the hard right.
Stérin, a billionaire who made his money in the experience gift-voucher sector, set up a think tank pushing right-wing ideas such as rolling back immigration, stopping abortion and promoting France’s Christian heritage, which many in France would perceive as nationalist and exclusionary.
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In a festive atmosphere, the punters are seated on long tables with 50 down each side. Many men are in what has become a kind of Canon Français uniform of berets and braces. A few women are in traditional Alsace dress.
There is a brief address from management reminding diners of the “charter” committing them to behave with respect and decorum, and then the fun begins. An army of servers brings out platters with choucroute, then Alsace cheeses and the traditional kougelhopf pudding. Wine flows.
Periodically the revellers down forks and join in song. Old standards by performers like Michel Delpech and Joe Dassin are the favourites. These are songs from an earlier generation, but the participants – who look like they are mainly in their 20s and 30s – know them by heart.
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The crowd in Colmar was predominantly – but not exclusively – white, and many said they were happy to be able to celebrate in a traditional way among friends. But the BBC saw no behaviour and heard no language that could be construed as offensive.
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He says the LFI is wrong to say they only serve pork. It happens regularly – because charcuterie is part of the French country tradition – but not exclusively. And he is angry at allegations that a Nazi salute was seen at one banquet. “I spoke to the guy and he said the accusation was total nonsense,” he says.
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For the LFI’s Fourreau, the banquets are “backward-looking – a caricature”.
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Her party is trying to get local authorities to stop the banquets, and has had an initial success in the Brittany town of Quimper.
In Caen, where a banquet was held in April, a preliminary investigation is being held by police into allegations of racial provocation by people attending.
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