The Bœuf Gras ("Fat Ox") is a traditional festive figure displayed or paraded by butchers, usually during Carnival celebrations. It may take the form of a live ox or other placid bovine, or a sculpted representation of one.The term "butcher's boy" is no longer commonly used today, having largely been replaced by "butcher's apprentice".
This article provides a non-exhaustive overview of Bœuf Gras festivities in various countries.
England An English cartoon from 1660 depicts Mardi Gras mounted on a fat ox and preparing to do battle with Lent.
Belgium
Anderlecht The Bœuf Gras competition was held in Anderlecht from 1909 to 1998.
Antwerp A Boeuf Gras procession took place in Antwerp on Monday March 28, 1910, the day after Easter Sunday.
Mouscron There is a Bœuf Gras competition in Mouscron, which had its 40th edition in 2023.
Canada
Montréal In Montreal, on Friday, March 23, 1900, the day after Mi-Carême Thursday, a Bœuf Gras parade was organized for the first time. It took place in the evening on the ice of a skating rink, protected by walls from the aggressive winter cold, and was open to spectators for an entrance fee. The parade featured floats representing, among others, the city of Montreal, England, France and Ireland, with young girls in national costume escorted by halberdiers. Thirty musicians from l'Harmonie de Montréal provide the soundscape against a backdrop of lighting effects.
France Bar-sur-Seine In the church of Bar-sur-Seine, a 16th-century stained glass window depicts the feast of the Boeuf Gras, which was certainly held in the town at the time.
Bayonne Bayonne's tradition of bœufs gras is a practice that will be listed as part of France's intangible cultural heritage in 2020.
Bazas The Bœufs Gras procession has been held in Bazas every year since the 13th century.
Beaumont-sur-Oise Beaumont-sur-Oise's "Boeuf Gras" is a long-standing festival that has been held without interruption for many years.
Berck-Plage In the cavalcade of May 20, 1907, a Char de la Boucherie, Char du Bœuf Gras, marches past.
Bergerac The tradition of boeuf gras (fattened beef) was first documented in Bergerac in 1908.
Chalon-sur-Saône Butchers, who used to walk fat oxen around town, once played a key role in the organization of the Chalon-sur-Saône Carnival. On Mardi Gras, February 12, 1907, the butchers took up the tradition of the Bœuf Gras and paraded a splendid beast around town.
La Chapelle Saint-Denis On February 27, 1858, in his article entitled Les Bœufs gras, published in L'Univers illustré, Mr. Vauvert wrote about the Bœuf gras procession at Chapelle Saint-Denis:Paris was not alone in enjoying the privilege of these ceremonial rides; several neighboring towns had their boeuf phénomène, complete with triumphal float and traditional Indian procession. The solemnity at La Chapelle-Saint-Denis was remarkable not so much for the pomp and circumstance displayed by its organizer, Mr. Baudeau, as for the presence of a hundred-and-seven-year-old man, the venerable Mr. Armand Gérard. Armand Gérard, who had asked to be featured as Le Temps. We have dedicated an engraving to this procession, as to that of the Parisian oxen.The village of La Chapelle-Saint-Denis was annexed to Paris at the end of 1859; parts of its territory were attached to the communes of Saint-Ouen, Saint-Denis and Aubervilliers.
Charleville A Bœuf Gras parades in the Mi-Carême Thursday procession March 21, 1909 in Charleville.
Chartres On April 1, 1906, a Bœuf Gras took part in the "Cavalcade Paris-Chartres".
Château-Gontier On May 27, 1906, a Bœuf Gras (Fat Ox) float took part in the Fête des Fleurs (Flower Festival).
Châtellerault In his Essai about the organization of work in Poitou from the 11th century to the Revolution, published in 1900, Prosper Boissonnade describes the bœuf gras de Châtellerault:Since the end of the 16th century, the butchers of Châtellerault, for example, have celebrated Carnival with a competition in which they exhibit the best oxen. After being presented to the officers of the seneschals, the most beautiful steer recognized by the jurors is "viellé", i.e. taken around the town's cantons and crossroads to the sound of popular music, and its lucky owner is granted a monopoly on Lenten butchery.
Clermont-Ferrand In Clermont-Ferrand, fat oxen were driven around at Easter until around 1960.
Créteil Around 1920, in Créteil, then a village in the Paris region, Mardi Gras and Mi-Carême were important festivals, as they were in Paris at the same time. A Bœuf Gras (fat ox) was paraded, as André Dreux reports in Créteil, mon village!: Then came Mardi Gras, the butchers' festival. The prize went to the butcher who could show off the most beautiful ox - alive, of course. It was the "bœuf gras" (fat ox), which rarely walked on its legs along the streets of Créteil, but was hoisted onto a float, decked out and beautifully wrapped, surrounded by horsemen and people in fancy dress. The laundresses in particular were part of the festivities, and had the day off: it has to be said that there were quite a few of them since there was a small factory, among other smaller laundries. Créteil's washerwomen, if they knew how to handle the beater, like their 5th-century ancestors who, it is said, knocked out the preachers Agoard and Aglibert, at least handled this professional instrument with good humor and accompanied themselves with song. Wasn't it one of their eldest sisters who, from the wash boat opposite the "Au cochon de lait" where Victor Hugo was staying, charmed Hugo into writing a poem about it?
After Mardi Gras, Carnival continued with Mi-Carême; more masquerade costumes, and merry confetti battles. Around 1920, we regularly saw masked balls organized by local societies.
Dax A video of the Bœuf Gras competition held in Dax in February 1963 is available on the Internet.
Dijon A description of the Promenade du Boeuf Gras in Dijon is known from 1784. It shows some similarities with the one in Paris:On Sunday November 28, Dijon's butchers, having been awarded the bounty of the fatted ox at the opening of the Seurre fairs, marched it through the town with great pomp; they rode on horseback, sword in hand, and had the Prince's music.
Eu A postcard shows a float carrying a Bœuf Gras and three costumed people: a toreador and two picadors. It was part of the grand cavalcade organized in Eu on Easter Monday, April 20, 1908. Another postcard shows the Bœuf Gras and Boîte au Sel marching in Eu that day.
Issoudun A photo from the 1930s shows the Bœuf Gras procession in Issoudun.
Jargeau Jargeau's carnival, now the largest in the Centre-Val de Loire region, is said to have originated with the Bœuf Gras (Fat Ox) village walk in the 1880s.
Lunéville On April 4, 1904, Lunéville hosted a cavalcade featuring a Bœuf Gras float.
Lurcy-Lévis The tradition of the Promenade du Bœuf Gras is attested to in Lurcy-Lévis by an early postcard.
Marseille
In 1822, in the Dictionnaire critique des reliques et des images miraculuses by J.-A.-S. Collin de Plancy, we read:
On Corpus Christi (1), the oxen are always taken for a walk in Marseille. It carries a child on its back, representing Saint John the Baptist. Some claim that this is a remnant of paganism, but Ruffi attributes the origin of this ceremony to the confreres of the body of Our Lord "who walked an ox every year, to treat the confreres on Corpus Christi. He quotes documents from 1530, which at least prove that this procession had the use he gives it, but which do not prove that it is not a remnant of paganism (2).
(1) Nannies are careful to have their infants kiss the muzzle of the fat ox. They are convinced that this ceremony will preserve a child forever from toothache. Good women who can let the fatted ox into their homes consider it a good omen when it deposits its digestion in their house or yard.
(2) Histoire de Marseille, book XIV, chap. VI.
La Martinique A traditional Carnival figure in Martinique used to be the Mardi Gras ox.
Manthelan The tradition of the Manthelan beef-fat parade took place every year on Mardi Gras. It ended after the centenary celebration in 1989.
Montargis A postcard from around 1900 shows the Bœuf Gras float on parade at "La Cavalcade du 9 Avril" in Montargis.
Montbrison Bœuf Gras is documented in Montbrison until 1962.
Montluçon The Bœuf Gras festival reappeared in Montluçon in the early 1990s under the name Fête, then Carnaval du Bœuf Villé.
Nancy Bœuf gras was once paraded in Nancy. An article illustrated with a photo appeared on the subject in February 2012 in L'Est républicain.
Nantes The Bœuf Gras appears to be an old tradition at the Nantes Carnival. It can be seen, for example, in 1907, 1914, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1924.
Photos of the Bœuf Gras at Carnaval de Nantes:
1914 - Tango 1920 - Carabin 1st 1921 - S. M. Gros-Plant 1st 1921 - S. M. Gros-Plant 1st 1923 - Mironton, photo 1, photo 2 1924 - (Name not specified on photo)
At the Nantes Carnival in 1958, the last horse-drawn carriage in the carnival parade was a Bœuf Gras float.
Niort The Bœuf Gras was traditionally driven through Niort every year.
Orléans We still have a description of the 1807 Orléans boeuf gras (fattened ox) walk, which is reminiscent of the Parisian tradition, including the child dressed as a sweetheart perched on the ox:February 8, 1807. - Orléans butchers' festival and fat ox walk in the city. A huge animal, covered in a scarlet cloak, its horns adorned with flowers and ribbons, carrying on its back a pretty six-year-old child dressed as a lover, with a bow in his hand and a quiver on his back, was followed by more than fifty butcher boys, neatly dressed in white jackets, bonnets and aprons, partly on horseback and partly on foot; The procession traveled a good portion of the city, bursting with noisy joy, and stopped in front of the homes of Orléans' principal inhabitants, as well as at the doors of the best practices, whose generosity was used to make a splendid gala that rounded off the festivities.A postcard from around 1930 shows the presentation of Bœufs gras in Orléans on Mi-Carême day.
Paris In 19th-century Paris, the prestigious Bœuf Gras festivities took on a gigantic dimension, becoming the de facto Fête de Paris within the framework of the very large Carnaval de Paris. From 1870 onwards, the Parisian Bœuf Gras procession declined due to political and organizational difficulties, including the butchers' crisis associated with the Mathurin Couder affair (1869–1873) and the absence of a mayor of Paris until 1977. It continued to parade in the 20th century, including on a large scale in 1905 and 1936. But it disappeared after the 1951 and 1952 parades.
This was followed by a 45-year hiatus. It was revived in 1998 on the initiative of Basile Pachkoff and has marched every year since. From 2002 onwards, it returned to the traditional Carnival calendar, marching on Dimanche Gras the day before Mardi Gras.
Le Perray-en-Yvelines A Bœuf gras float paraded in a 1908 cavalcade in Le Perray-en-Yvelines.
Pierrefitte-sur-Seine
A postcard from 1909 features the Bœuf Gras in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, then called Pierrefitte.
Poitiers Louis-François-Marie Bellin de La Liborlière wrote in 1846 about life in Poitiers before 1789:As the law of quadragesimal abstinence was generally observed, each year a Lenten butcher was appointed, with sole responsibility for the public sale of meat during the period when this type of food became an exception. It was this butcher who, at Carnival time, led the fattened ox through the streets of the town with great pomp and ceremony.The "boucherie de carême" was the only butcher's shop authorized to sell meat during the forty days of Lent to those dispensed from fasting by the bishop. This was a prestigious and lucrative position.
Rennes