A bit of history
Back in the 17th century, the Landes region was a vast, flat, marshy land, mostly covered with grass and brush. It was home to many shepherds who lived and worked there.
To move around more easily in the swamps and to keep a better watch over their sheep, the shepherds used stilts.
Thanks to the height of the stilts, they could watch their flock without getting their feet wet, while also avoiding the cold and the sharp thorns of gorse bushes.
But when pine forests were planted in the region, the marshes gradually dried up. The shepherds no longer needed stilts to tend their flocks.
To keep the tradition alive, workers called “gemeurs” continued using stilts in the pine forests for certain tasks.
After World War I, nearly all stilt-walkers had disappeared.
That was until Sylvain Dornon, from Arcachon, came up with a new way to use stilts: stilt dancing. His goal was to keep the practice alive by turning it into a sport and a form of entertainment.
From that point on, stilt-walking became a cultural tradition in the Landes and beyond, with many folk groups being created to keep the spirit of Landes folklore alive and share it with others.
