La Fête du Baiser is a festival

Festival

A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....

, celebrated the Saturday after St. Valentine's Day, in Roquemaure

Roquemaure, Gard

Roquemaure is a commune in the department of Gard in southern France. The small town is a centre of local wine production, especially of Lirac AOC, and is located on the right bank of the Rhone. The city Avignon is nearby.-History:...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 near Avignon

Avignon

Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...

. Begun in 1989, it commemorates not only Saint Valentine

Saint Valentine

Saint Valentine is the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. The name "Valentine", derived from valens , was popular in Late Antiquity...

, whom locals claim as a former resident, but the arrival of his mortal remains in 1868 to Roquemaure's collegiate church

Collegiate church

In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...

 reliquary

Reliquary

A reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures...

. Celebrations revolve around a return to a 19th century way of life, including costumes and markets, drawing more than 20,000 visitors.

The relics of St Valentine were purchased in Rome, in hopes of curing the town's diseased vine

Grapevine

Grapevine is the common name for plants of the genus Vitis. Other meanings include:*Grapevine , a term often used to describe a form of communication by means of gossip or rumor, as in "heard it through the grapevine"...

 stocks; within four years they were healed. Today, Roquemaure is home to a winery

Winery

A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...

 (Cellar St. Valentine) which produces wines named after the saint.

The festival was started by a local priest, Father René Durieu. Men and women around the village dress as priests and nuns, kissing each other, as well as travellers. Special foods and wines are produced especially for the festival.

External links

• Lip service: The wine and the kisses flow during a passionate French festival, Sydney Morning Herald, February 18, 2005
• La Fête des Baisers ou La Festo de Poutoun
• La Fête du Baiser : Saint Valentin à Roquemaure