On Sunday, August 1st, Cooks & Soldiers will pay homage to its French roots by hosting its fifth annual Fêtes de Bayonne.Â
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Fêtes de Bayonne, the "big summer festival", is the largest festival in France, and features a celebration rich in food, drink and sport. Join us to honor the occasion with nods to the festival traditions, live entertainment and French specialties.Â
 The menu will feature popular Cooks & Soldiers favorites alongside special dishes created just for this event.Â
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 - Celebrate in style in your best red and white.Â
- Dress in a FULL cow costume for a FREE VIP ticket. See below for more details.
- Scroll down for ticket offerings and additional event information.Â
- Read more about Fêtes de Bayonne...
Fêtes de Bayonne is a feria consisting of a series of festivals held annually in the Northern Basque Country in the town of Bayonne, France. The festival lasts five days and always begins on the Wednesday before the first Sunday of August. On Wednesday evening at 10pm giant King Leon, the presider of the festival, tosses the keys from the Town Hall balcony to the crowd massed below. From then, each day has a theme and momentum builds until Sunday, the grand finale of the celebration. It seemed appropriate for Cooks & Soldiers to pay respect to this tradition on this day.
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The first Fêtes de Bayonne took place in 1932 and was an idea hatched by a the city's rugby team who wanted to create a similar celebration in Bayonne to the San Fermin (running of the bulls) in Pamplona, Spain. Now the largest festival in France, the celebrations boast spectacular musical and street performances, traditional dances, parades and nightly fireworks. Â
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In the eighties, festival participants started to dress in white with a red scarf and a red belt after the colors of the city of Pamplona, a tradition that is widely accepted and continues today.
WHY COWS
During the festival in France, from Friday to Sunday those interested can participate or just observe the "bull running" or better yet, cow running. Dressed in white and wearing a red scarf, the most courageous among the crowd will enter into the "course" where the cows are released. COW DODGING!
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**come on August 1st dressed in FULL cow costume to receive a FREE VIP ticket!**
 one ticket per cow, must be 21 & older, not valid with any other offer, must be dressed as a cow from HEAD TO TOE, cow eligibility based on management discretion, inquire within for more details.