Festivities and traditions

San Juan arena

Visuel des Arènes SANJUAN de LUNEL
The San-Juan arena, home to the bullfighting tradition

Located just outside the original city centre, the San Juan arena is one of the oldest in the region, dating back to 1861. It has been renovated and modernised several times and currently has a seating capacity of 2,800.

Generations of legendary bulls
Home to Lunel’s bullfighting culture, this arena is the scene of many regional courses camarguaises (Camargue bloodless bullfights), corridas (Spanish bullfights) and other spectacles such as the toropiscine (game where young people try to entice bulls into a pool of water) during the summer months. For many generations, all of the greatest bulls have trod this legendary ground, queen of the course libre or course camaguaise, reputed by the raseteurs to be the most difficult.

The town’s fête votive (annual fiesta), which takes place during ten days in July, is a key activity in the arena. The courses take place almost daily and the crowning moment of the festivities is a corrida.

The arena: Francis SAN JUAN 2800 seats
Construction: 1861
Ring class: Large
Ring shape: Oval
Arena telephone number: 04 67 87 83 78

Information: 04 67 71 13 27
Course organisation: Private organiser and Club Taurin Réunis
Fiesta dates: The week including the 14 th of July (1 week)
Corrida dates: Second weekend of the July fiesta
Corrida organisation: Private organiser

Principal trophies awarded for the courses camarguaises:
"PESCALUNE" trophy (last Sunday in October)
"ENSUQUE-GALAUD" trophy
"Roger DAMOUR" trophy
"MUSCAT DE LUNEL" trophy
"L'AVENIR" trophy (bullfighting) alternating with the arenas in Chateaurenard and Beaucaire

Principal corrida trophies:
"André REBUFFAT" trophy and souvenir "Philippe THIERS"

Pescaluno, the first "indulto" of the San-Juan Arena in Lunel.
During the 2002 fiesta’s novillada (a fight between apprentice toreadors and young bulls), a bull named Pescaluno was spared thanks to his exceptional courage and valour during the fight. This event is very rare in France and was an historical moment for this arena, which had never before witnessed such an event.

Bullfighting Glossary

Abrivado	Originally, the arrival of the fighting bulls from the fields to the arena, surrounded by gardians on horseback. Now special bulls are usually used for the event.
Aficionado	From Castilian Spanish: aficionado means “fan” or “devotee,” a person who has a strong taste or passion for something, in this case, for bulls. Someone who loves courses camarguaises and all things related to bulls.
Atrapaïre	Name given to people who try to catch the bulls during an abrivado or a bandido , to help them escape. It is a way for people on foot to get back at those on horseback.
Attente au fer	This action, in the ring or in the corral, is generally carried out by two gardians on foot with tridents, who wait for the bull without moving. When the bull charges, they check him with the tridents and teach him to be afraid of humans, which is essential in training a good simbéu (lead bull).
Attributs	A small bit of red cloth attached to a string crossing the bull’s forehead ( cocarde ), white tassels attached to the horns ( glands ), and loops of string wrapped around the horns ( ficelles ). Their value increases the longer they remain on the horns during the 15 minutes that each bull spends in the ring.
Bandido	Originally, the departure of the fighting bulls from the arena to the fields after the course , surrounded by gardians on horseback. Now special bulls are usually used for the event.
Biòu	A term for a bull. A one-year-old calf is called an anouble . At two years it becomes a doublen , then a ternen at 3.
Bistournage	The process of castrating young biòus after they have reached three years of age.
Bouvino	The world of the Camargue bulls, the biòus. Those in the “ bouvino ” have the bull faith, la fé di biòu ).
Carmen (air de)	The music of Bizet is played for about 10 seconds to acknowledge a particularly fine performance by a cocardier .
Course camarguaise	This bull event is very popular in the Lunel area.
Course camarguaise	The course camarguaise (or course à la cocarde or course libre ) follows certain rules: A trumpet sounds and the bull comes out of its enclosure; a second trumput sounds after one minute and the raseteurs , gripping a hooked instrument called the crochet , have fifteen minutes to attempt to remove its various attributs .
Cocarde	This attribut is a bit of red cloth attached to a string running across the bull’s forehead. It is the first attribut the raseteurs must try to remove.
Crochet	Small steel comb-like hooked instrument with which the raseteurs try to remove the various attributs . It is specially designed not to injure the animal.
Déjeuner au pré	“Lunch on the grass” is one of the highlights of every fiesta and takes place at a manade , when the gardians sort the bulls for their course that day. It normally includes grilled sausage and local wine.
Despedida	Course or corrida marking the end of a raseteur’s or torero’s career. From the Spanish meaning “to take leave.”
Encierro	From the Spanish encerrar : to close someone in. Event in which bulls (or vachettes , young cows) with protected horns are released to run in a corral or through the closed streets of a village or town. In general, this takes place in the evening during the fêtes votives or on Sundays in winter, while waiting for the evening bingo game to begin, to relieve the boredom of the off-season.
Fé di biòu	A belief or faith in everything that surrounds the bouvino culture. A love or passion for the Camargue bulls, not to mention the horses, which draws the locals into the village streets to participate in the bull games, or at least admire the young bulls. Also the title of the monthly journal of the Fédération Française de Course Camarguaise .
Félibrige	Literary school founded in Provence in the middle of the 19 th century and active until 1950 or so, with the goal of restoring Provençal to its former literary rank. Tradition has it that the félibrige was founded on 21 May 1854 at the Chateau Font-Ségugne, under the patronage of Sainte Estelle, by seven young Provençal poets and their master, Frédéric Mistral, all of whom wanted to save their language from oblivion. In 1904, Mistral shared the Nobel Prize in literature for his work.
Ferrade	Procedure which consists in marking the left thigh of the anouble with the brand (similar to a coat of arms) of the manade and also marking its ears. The occasion is celebrated by an outdoor feast on the property of the manadier . The need to brand the animals in order to recognise them is considered to be at the origin of the bull games. The procedure takes place in several steps:
	- the horsemen are presented and the manadier welcomes all present;
	- the calf is driven toward the atrapaïres ,
	- the calf is seized and branded
	- the calf is released.
Gardian	Herdsman or cowboy who cares for and feeds bulls and cows. On horseback, he or she sorts out the bulls that will go to the arena for the course .
Manade	Term for a herd of more than five bulls; it can also refer to the fields or pastures where these herds are kept. The owner of a manade is called a manadier (or manadière if the owner is a woman).
Marque/brand	Iron instrument used to brand animals. Also the mark left by the instrument on the thigh or flank of the animal. Herd to which the branded animals belong. Synonym: fer (hence, ferrade ).
Raset	Action which consists in passing as close to the bull’s head as possible, to try and remove an attribut with the crochet (hooked instrument).
Raseteur	A man (or soon perhaps a woman) dressed in white who tries to remove the maximum number of attributs to earn trophy points and prize money. He pockets the winnings at the end of each fight.
Roussataïo	Release of horses to run in the streets of a town.
Royale	Course camarguaise in which six bulls in the same manade are presented. Thus the royale is named for the manade being presented. These take place from March to May. In the town of Saint Laurent d'Aigouze, a springtime series of royales called the “ Printemps des Royales ” is held annually.
Tambourinaïre	This is a “one-person orchestra” playing a tune on a three-holed flute, le galoubet , and beating a drum at the same time. These traditional Provençal instruments have a historical tradition. They have been in regular use since the Middle Ages and there is evidence of them being played in our fiestas since the 14 th century. They exist in different sizes (length and diameter), and they are made of various woods: olive wood, oak, plywood ...there is even one made of glass!
Temporada	From Castilian Spanish: bullfighting season. Starts the first weekend following the FFCC congress and ends in October.
Toril	Bullpen in the arena where the bulls are kept before the fight. There are two entrances/exits: one into the ring and the other toward the bull lorry.
Tri	On the morning of course or a ferrade, the manadier and his gardians close the cocardiers or cocardières (fighting cows) into the sorting pen. On horseback, they select the bulls or cows for the course. One or two people will do the sorting, although it is more honourable to do it alone. The most able horsemen can select bulls while trotting, and even separate them from the herd with no difficulty. Invariably, no matter what the manade or the team, a failure is always someone’s fault: a novice fan, a spectator, an adolescent cowboy, etc…
Trophée des As	Prize awarded in the same way as other trophies except the participants are those who have been classified in Category 1 by the “Ace Trophy” commission.
Trophée de l'avenir	A season-long series of courses for raseteurs under 24 years of age, taking place in several arenas; the points accumulated during each course determine a classification and the trophy is awarded to the young raseteur with the most points at the end of the season.
Trophée Pescalune	Association composed of all of the Camargue bull clubs in Lunel. Also a bullfighting competition created in 1984. The finals of the Pescalune trophy are held every October.