The story dates back to the 14th century, when the inhabitants of Cournonterral would go to cut holm oak in the communal and seigneurial forests adjacent to those of Aumelas.
The inhabitants of Aumelas, considering holm oak to be their only source of income, did not see it that way and hated their neighbors.
One day, when the inhabitants of Cournonterral decided to cut wood, the “Aumelassiens” greeted them with slingshots and arrows.
Several people were injured.
The Consuls and the Lord were informed and ordered the Bayle “Pailhas” to put an end to this rivalry.
From that day on, it was decided to commemorate the name “Pailhas” with a public event on Ash Wednesday, in the form of a game, with the Pailhasses representing the Cournonterralais and the Blancs representing the inhabitants of Aumelas.
Early in the morning, barrels are placed in the center of the village and filled with sticky wine lees, which have a repulsive smell.
In the early afternoon, the Pailhasses and the Blancs gather and parade through the streets of the village.
Then a drum roll announces the start of hostilities.
The spectators flee and the Blancs run randomly through the streets.
The elders then pour the buckets of lees into the center of the square, and with hysterical screams, the Pailhasses throw themselves into the puddles, dive into the still-full buckets, and set off in pursuit of the Blancs in a frantic race that spares no one.
A little anecdote...
Agnès Varda's film “Sans toit ni loi” (Vagabond) features a character played by Sandrine Bonnaire who finds herself in Cournonterral on the day of the festival.
Unaware of the existence of this ritual, the woman is terrified when she is captured by the Pailhasses. Although the director is from the region, the festival organizers remained faithful to the rule and refused to allow her to film the scene during the festival.
In her book “Agnès par Varda,” she recounts that she was inspired by a photograph, specifically one by Charles Camberoque from the photo album Les Paillasses, with a preface by Yves Rouquette, for the making of her film.
https://www.ville-cournonterral.fr/?gr=2&th=9&art=61
Translated with DeepL.com
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