Nearly 10,000 festival-goers are expected at the Chickpea Festival which continues its weekend in crushing heat. Behind the pacifist and environmentalist slogans, the public yesterday followed the Poichichade procession. This Sunday, the festivities will end with the lighting of the giant mascot.
The Chickpea has two faces this year. One feminine side, another masculine. A figure inspired by Janus, the Roman god of passages and transitions, who sets the tone for this 18th edition of the Chickpea Festival of Montaren-et-Saint-Médiers.
Make hummus, not war
After a very well-attended opening on Friday, marked by the traditional exit of the Chickpea from his house and a first door symbolically crossed, the village plunged back into its offbeat, poetic and irreverent universe on Saturday.
The procession • @Yannick Pons
This Saturday morning, the village slowly recovered from the first festive evening to the brassy sounds of the Banda Brutti. The Poichichade, one of the oldest rituals of the event, a narrative journey through the alleys, has been completely revised this year. Guided by the artists and volunteers, the participants embarked on a quest for the big cracking door, a new stage in an odyssey which should lead the public to pass through seven doors in total during the weekend.
The farting brothers after the release of • Chickpea • @Sébastien Laroche
On the steps of Place to Chiche, the children, impetinent little farters, opened the ball. Dressed in pink, blowing soap bubbles to the applause of the public, they started a joyful and colorful procession. Behind them advanced the imposing giant Chickpea, half-man, half-woman, carried at arm’s length through the streets of Montaren.
The passage
“This year’s theme is passage. We go through the doors”, summarizes Henri Maquet, member of the organization. “The first door was opened on Friday. Today (Saturday), we discover two new ones. HAS” This is the theme of the party this year. That of the passage from one state to another, from one season to another, from one face to another. Hence this two-sided chickpea, which has become the emblem of the 2026 edition. Already Friday evening, several hundred people had invaded the village. That’s hard shit! After the opening ritual, the concerts livened up the evening. The group Elements of Baraka brought the gardens to life with their rhythmic trance.
The impétinent little farters blow bubbles on the Place To chiche • @Yannick Pons
Saturday evening, the party was to continue until the end of the night, Fatbabs, Isam Elias, Yuhna Foster and Orgasmiche Poichivari. Without forgetting the Chickpea sunset and the nighttime projection in the gardens. This Sunday, the village will set the table one last time before the burning of the Chickpea at 6:45 p.m. in the Pichons Jardins.
The full program is here
