This past weekend, the main square in Arras, in northern France, turned into something between a food fair and a carnival. On August 29 and 30, the city held the ninth edition of its Fête de l’Andouillette, a festival built around andouillette, a coarse, tripe-based sausage that’s a point of local pride in the Pas-de-Calais region.
Local butchers were busy well before the opening bell: 230 kilos of andouillette were prepared for the event, much of it at Boucherie Dupont in nearby Biache-Saint-Vaast, according to France 3 Hauts-de-France. That’s enough to feed the thousands of visitors expected over the two days.
Saturday’s schedule might confuse first-timers. The R’Andouillette run started from Boulevard Crespel, offering five distances between 5 and 21 kilometers. The prize at the finish line: a free andouillette tasting, served until 7:30 p.m. Entry cost 7.50 euros for adults and 3 euros for children ages 5 to 12, free for anyone younger.
Sunday brought more conventional foot races over 2, 5, and 10 kilometers, followed by one of the weekend’s high points: the Grande Parade. Arras’s traditional giant figures marched through downtown, including Mahaut d’Artois, the newest addition to the lineup, who made her first public appearance just last year.
Back on the main square, the Marché des Saveurs brought together butchers, brewers, and regional producers, while local food guilds held their traditional induction ceremonies nearby. The cooking competition that kicked off Saturday wrapped up Sunday afternoon with the Prix Prestaux, awarded to the best artisan.
Last year’s edition included a 100-meter-long andouillette tart, cut into 2,000 servings and sold to benefit cystic fibrosis research. In this Pas-de-Calais city, whose belfry is a UNESCO World Heritage site, sausage-making has turned into serious business, without losing its sense of fun.