Even if the carnival will still remain until Sunday August 28 in Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne, the highlight of the Saint-Fiacre is this weekend, with in particular this Sunday the Percheron competition and the fireworks at 10:15 p.m. Among the forty fairground people who animate the park, a Mayenne family has been present for 101 years! She owns the Clam confectionery, originally from Mayenne.
It may be a sign, Philippe Huillery was born during Saint-Fiacre, 71 years ago. He is part of the 4th generation of the family to come to Château-Gontier every year. Memories, he has them in spades. “A striking memory was crossing the Mayenne, with a barge that crossed the other side to here by pulling on string, at 20 francs, because it was still the old francs. People came from the city center and crossed, it was the folklore of the city of Château-Gontier.
In 71 years of presence at the Saint-Fiacre, Philippe Huillery has seen the party evolve.
At the time, there were wooden horses, a caterpillar, one or two carousels. Now, you have attractions that go up very high, which thrill young people because older people are a little reluctant to go up, they haven’t experienced that. It’s magnificent, the festive spirit is always the same.
Today, it is his son Alexandre who has taken over the reins of the confectionery and it is a real pleasure for him every year to find the Saint-Fiacre. “Clients have seen me grow up, they tell me, we remember, we saw you when you were little and so on. For us, it’s not a job, it’s a pleasure.”
Alexandre Huillery says it, “there is no reason for it to stop”. He hopes that a 6th generation will take over. The Clam confectionery still has a bright future ahead of it at Saint-Fiacre.