The Parade of the Fat Ox, also referred to as the "Festival of the Fat Ox," "Cavalcade of the Fat Ox," "Festival of the Town Ox" (paraded through the city), or "Festival of the Violled Ox" (paraded to the sound of the viol or hurdy-gurdy), is an ancient festive tradition held during the Paris Carnival. It involves Parisian butchers or butcher boys, often adorned in costumes representing savages, sacrificers, or victims, solemnly parading one or more decorated fat oxen accompanied by music. The presence of other costumed participants and floats further augments the procession. Before the conclusion of the 20th century, the slaughter of oxen occurred after the conclusion of the festivities, with the meat subsequently being made available for commercial sale. From 1845 to the early 20th century, the animals were given names inspired by current events, popular songs, operettas, or contemporary literature.
The oldest known reference to this festival dates to 1712, yet it was already regarded as ancient. Several authors claim that it is a remnant of a ritual prior to Christianization, often thought to have originated in ancient Egypt. Alternatively, some scholars have proposed that its origins lie in astrological worship, specifically the celebration of the entry of the Sun into the constellation of Taurus. Additionally, the tradition has been linked to a Lenten butcher who, upon producing the fattest ox, was granted the exclusive right to sell meat during Lent to those exempted from fasting. From a more pragmatic perspective, the Carnival and the Fat Ox symbolize a season of abundance and represent the final opportunity for feasting before the onset of the fasting period.
The parade was banned during the French Revolution (1789–1799) and then revived in 1806, continuing almost uninterrupted until 1870, with a hiatus from 1848 to 1850 due to the 1848 revolution. However, France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870), the Paris Commune (1871), and legal issues led to the suspension of this tradition. The Fat Ox returned to the Carnival in 1896, albeit with intermittent participation in the early 20th century, and made a brief reappearance in 1951 and 1952. Following these events, the Fat Ox Parade and the Paris Carnival ceased to be organized, reemerging only in 1998.
The Fat Ox Parade has attracted significant public attention, garnering the attention of the general public and prominent figures in the intellectual and artistic spheres. This event has served as a source of inspiration for a variety of artistic and cultural expressions, including theatrical plays, operettas, references in La traviata, political, satirical, comedic, and carnival songs, as well as poetry. Romantic literature also refers to the Fat Ox. The ox has been depicted in drawings, prints, caricatures, paintings, magic lantern slides, and photographs. The parade's popularity attracted the attention of merchants, industrialists, and politicians, who sought to use it for advertising purposes.
History of the event
Possible origins of the festival
The precise origins and date of this festival, also referred to as Bœuf violé or viellé, Bœuf villé, or Bœuf violé, remain a subject of scholarly debate. The festival's historical evolution, particularly the role of the ox in parading through the city to the sound of the viol or hurdy-gurdy, is a topic of interest.
A document dating to 1274 makes reference to a "House of the Three Estaulx and the Violled Ox," which is understood to be a sign depicting three market stalls and an ox parading to music. This house is also depicted on Sheet 9 of the Berty Archaeological Map of Paris. However, there is an absence of definitive evidence linking this reference explicitly to the Parade of the Fat Ox.
Some explanations claim that the event is a remnant of an ancient pre-Christian ritual. In a 1739 issue of Mercure de France describing the Parade of the Fat Ox, it states: "This very old custom appears to be a remnant of certain pagan festivals, particularly sacrifices offered to false gods. Indeed, the butcher boys dress for this ceremony much like the slaves of sacrificers; the Fat Ox is adorned in the same manner as those sacrificed as victims, and the butchers carry instruments similar to those used in sacrifices." In a 1783 issue of Correspondance Secrète, the festival reminded a spectator of "the Bacchanalia and the mysteries of the Egyptians." In the 1805 program, the poet, songwriter, playwright, and satirist Antoine-Pierre-Augustin de Piis compared it to a "procession of the Apis bull."It is preserved in the Le Senne collection at the BNF. This interpretation was later echoed by Louis-Charles Bizet and Théophile Gautier in 1847, and by Léo Delibes, who composed music in his youth for a comic text illustrating the ancient festival. This work gained some fame and was sung in 1891 at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens by Désiré and Léonce: Honneur au bœuf Apis,À l'enfant de Memphis;C'est le roi du bétail,Contemplez son poitrail.On admirait sa peauQuand il n'était qu'un veau;Depuis qu'il est taureau,Mon Dieu qu'il est donc beau !Honor to the Apis bull,To the child of Memphis;He is the king of cattle,Admire his broad chest.We admired his skinWhen he was but a calf; Now that he's a bull,My God, how beautiful he is! However, the Egyptian god Apis is not a bull but a sacred ox. In 1852, Edmond Auguste Texier claimed that the festival of the god Apis was passed down to the Greeks and Romans in the form of the cult of Mithras—though he overlooked its Eastern origins—and subsequently spread to Gaul through conquest. Some authors also suggest that the Gaulish deity Tarvos Trigaranos may be a likely origin for the Fat Ox.
Jacques Antoine Dulaure posited that the festival was initially celebrated at the spring equinox, when the sun entered the sign of Taurus, potentially deriving from astral worship. This interpretation was endorsed by the authors of Paris Pittoresque.
An additional explanation is provided in a document printed in 1896, which is preserved in the Carnival Archives of the Historical Library of the City of Paris:See Bibliothèque historique de la ville de Paris.
According to the authors of the Dictionary of Crafts and Trades (2012), Carnival and the Fat Ox symbolize abundance and the final opportunity to indulge before the Lenten fast. Ethnologist Arnold van Gennep viewed the Parade as the emblem of the butchers' guild. The Carnival, a period of meat consumption, honored butchers, who profited from this demand. He believed it likely emerged during the height or formation of medieval guilds and thus served an advertising function.
Folklore group leader Suzanne Manot synthesized a series of theories, proposing that the Parade of the Fat Ox symbolizes the Christianization of ancient festivals—including Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Gaulish traditions—observed at the spring equinox in tribute to oxen believed to possess divine abilities. She further suggested that butchers' guilds have played a pivotal role in preserving this tradition, adapting it into a carnival and a promotional event.
The first mentions
The first documented reference to the Promenade of the Fat Ox in Paris was recorded in 1712, cited in a theatrical placard presented during the Carnival: Placards of Parisian Festivities Presented to the Public by the Great Troupe of Rope Dancers from the Jeu de paume d'Orléans at the Saint-Germain Fair, February 1712. The inclusion of the Fat Ox in this piece indicates the early existence of this celebration.
A particularly thorough account of the promenade on Fat Thursday was published in the Mercure de France in 1739. The following day, a second parade was organized by a different group of butchers. From the mid-18th century onward, references to the event became increasingly prevalent.
The height of the parades
The Fat Ox, in conjunction with the Paris Carnival, was prohibited during the Revolution, which commenced in 1790. Carnival festivities recommenced under the First Empire. The resurgence of the Fat Ox occurred on 23 February 1805, as part of a lavish procession. The parade transpired annually in Paris until 1870, with the exception of 1814 and 1848 to 1850.
During the First Empire, for example, in February 1813, the Child dressed as Cupid was occasionally replaced by the god Mars. Seven years later, Louvel attended the Fat Ox parade before fatally stabbing the Duke of Berry, and street festivities were subsequently banned by Police Prefect Jules Anglès. Printed programs, titled Order and Procession of the Fat Ox and decorated with engravings, were regularly distributed until the end of the Second Empire. On 14 February 1831, clashes occurred on the same day as the Fat Ox parade. Informed of the unrest, the Foreign Minister reportedly left the Legislative Body to go to his residence, where the parade was set to pass, announcing, "I'm going to see the masks."The following year's parade, initially uncertain, was eventually held under heavy police supervision. In 1846, the organizers of the parade proposed a novel innovation: the Fat Ox would be placed on a float pulled by six horses. The vehicle was tested with 258 paving stones weighing six tons—three times the ox's weight—but it broke down. As a result, Dagobert paraded on foot.The Fat Ox parade, a tradition with deep historical roots in Paris, faced significant challenges in the years leading up to 1848. This period was marked by a series of revolutions that led to the cancellation of the parade in 1848. The authorities in Paris initially opposed the reorganization of the procession. However, in 1849, the parade was held in Versailles, and in 1850, it took place in the neighboring communes of Montmartre, Batignolles, and La Chapelle. It is noteworthy that these communes would only be annexed to Paris a decade later. The following year, Lucien Arnault, known as Arnault the Elder, director of the Hippodrome, revived the Fat Ox parade in Paris after a three-year hiatus, drawing two to three hundred thousand spectators. He organized it again in 1852 but did not purchase the ox.
From 1855 to 1868, the responsibility of organizing the majority of the festivities fell to the butchers Fléchelle and , who alternated in this role. Fléchelle purchased the Fat Ox on nine occasions, escorting it through the city in a procession, while Duval acquired the ox on two separate occasions. Despite the decline in popularity of the Fat Ox parade, Arnold Mortier, in his reminiscences in 1880, recalled the resplendent grandeur of the parades orchestrated by Fléchelle and Duval.
A long hiatus
At the onset of 1871, the Franco-Prussian War reached its conclusion with the ratification of the general armistice on 15 February, a development that left France in a state of defeat and occupation. The annual Mardi Gras festivities, scheduled for 21 February, were met with preemptive prohibition by the authorities, who had taken action to quell any potential unrest. However, this did not deter a group of pranksters, who, undeterred, proceeded to stage a satirical protest. This document featured a song and a caricature of the newly elected head of state and government, Adolphe Thiers, who had assumed office just a week earlier. Thiers was depicted as Cupid, attired in a ridiculous hat and seated on the back of a tearful Fat Ox. In his hand, he held an oversized quill pen intended to sign the capitulation. The word FRANCE was written in large letters on the Fat Ox. The two traditional sacrificers escorting the animal were attired in caricatured spiked helmets, thereby identifying them as Prussians. The song's lyrics mirrored the mocking tone, commencing as follows: