The bullfights and Tauromachy (1853 - today)

First bull-races to the current ferias

The clearing of the “Arènes”, initiated during the First Empire, gave the venue back its original vocation, i.e. an arena for entertainment. In April 1813, Baron Rolland, the Prefect of the Gard, proposed to the Minister of the Interior that the “Arènes” should be opened to the public for its favourite form of entertainment. He wrote: “The public’s taste for bull-races is intense in this region, and nowhere else will you find a site as magnificent as the “Arènes””.

From 1853 onwards, the monument was therefore returned to its original vocation, with the organisation of the Camargue bull-races and subsequently the bull-fights. Today, the amphitheatre plays host to bull-fights during the “Féria”, i.e. the most famous local festivals (Whit Sunday, the Carnival in February and the Harvest festival in September).

The bullfight

The traditional rules of the bullfight are as follows: the “paseo” opens the show; the toreros then parade in glittering costumes and are followed by banderilleros and picadors. Finally mules and horses are brought on to drag away the body of the bull… The combat begins with the arrival of the animal in the arena (exiting the “toril”, where it was held in the shade, prior to coming out into the full daylight of the arena); the torero awaits the bull with his cape, and then attempts to calm his fiery ardour, gain control and impose his own rhythm. This is referred to as the “passing” phase. The second phase marks the turn of the picadors, who injure and provoke the beast with their lances. Next come the banderilleros, who fix their banderillas into the flesh of the bull to stimulate it and make it fight. The combat finishes with the “muleta” phase. The toreador, brandishing the “muleta” in his hand, exhausts the bull and finally applies the “death-blow” or “final thrust”.

Other spectacles 

Although the bullfight is the most sought-after form of entertainment at the “Arènes”, there are other less cruel and very popular spectacles. Certain combats are organised without the “death-blow”, and there are also the “Courses à la cocarde” (when a ribbon is placed between the horns of the bull), which are also extremely popular. This opposes a bull or young cow with the “razetteurs” in the arena. The latter have to grab, using a comb-like instrument, the ribbon fixed between the bull’s horns. This requires a great deal of deftness, vivacity and skill on the part of the “razetteurs”, who must avoid the charges and the horns of their opponent, by jumping onto the barricades that surround the arena.