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Forthcoming
events - like many small French villages we have several events
each year where the whole village comes together to eat, drink,
dance, talk and have fun together.
 Night Markets
Highlights of the summer are our annual Night Markets, where the main street is closed off to traffic, tables and chairs are laid out, there's plenty of food and drink, and dancing goes on into the small hours. It's recommended that you bring your own cutlery and glasses - you may find it a bit tricky cutting through a vine-barbecued steak with a disposable plastic knife - and reserve your seats early, as the evenings are very popular!
This year's night markets are being held on 10th and 24th July and 7th August, 2009.
Floralies
The village also hosts a 'Floralies' market during the daytime on May Day, 1st May. This is when we all stock up on plants and flowers for our gardens and hanging baskets, as all as other seasonal products and, of course, local wine.
The market runs throughout the day, with a traditional mid-morning breakfast of wild-garlic omelettes and red wine, and the mid-afternoon children's cycle race, where local children decorate bicycles, scooters and tricycles with flowers and undertake a couple of circuits around the centre of the village.
Everyone's a winner and they all go away with a prize!
Fête cantonale
A real must is the annual Fête Cantonale at Villefranche de Lonchat, a ten-minute drive from St. Méard.
This brings all the local villages together for a day of festivities, with parades of floats showing local traditions, displays of traditional barrel-making and quite remarkable barrel-rolling.
There are also dancers in traditional local costume, a wide range of arts, crafts, local wines, a fairground for children as well as traditional games and pastimes, and plenty to eat and drink.
If you reserve early you can eat in the huge marquee on the sportsground, where hundreds of people are fed, watered and entertained in a very long and enjoyable lunch.
This year's event is due to be held on 26th July. There is a nominal entry fee which allows unlimited entry thoughout the day, and you'll be directed to car parking areas.
Around and about
As well as all this, there is no end of events staged in the area throughout the summer months.
Look out for fireworks displays at Ste. Foy la Grande and Le Fleix (there's usually a big three-day festival there during the first weekend of August), as well as numerous other night markets, circuses, concerts, sports events and so on in towns and villages across the region.
Many of these are not advertised until what seems to be the very last minute, so keep your eyes peeled, and ask your hosts for the latest updates!
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