Romane Hocquet 7:11 a.m., July 14, 2022

Le Bagad by Lann Bihoué will open the parade in Paris for July 14th.

This Breton music group is indeed part of the national navy.

For these ten minutes of concert, the group has been preparing for four months in order to be ready for D-Day.

Europe 1 attended their last rehearsal, at the foot of the Obélix de la Concorde.

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The Champs-Élysées, as a birthday present.

This is what awaits Bagad de Lann Bihoué to celebrate their 70th birthday.

A first for quartermaster Gaël, snare drum player.

"I think we're ready!", He says at the microphone of Europe 1. Fatigue, impatience also bind on the faces: the epilogue of four months of rehearsals, started in April.

The last was on Tuesday, on the cobblestones of the Place de la Concorde.

The appointment was fixed at dawn for the thirty musicians, who advance to the rhythm of the instruments.

"Yes, I'm Breton, well, I come from Nantes", laughs Gaël, proud - despite everything - to represent Brittany in his navy blue uniform.

© Romane Hocquet / Europe 1

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Proud to be Breton

The debriefing takes place in a circle around Major Christine, who supervises the group: "Be proud to be sailors. The Bretons are also watching you, okay!".

In front of her, is a troupe somewhat disconcerted by the immensity of the Parisian decor, almost empty at rehearsal time.

The rhythm, the positions, the posture: everything is checked, calibrated... There are only a few adjustments left.

She turns around and takes a look at her young recruits: "It's magic. I was already proud to have joined Bagad, I am even more so for this anniversary," she explains.

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Music and choreography

A seven and a zero: this is the training that the Sailors will have to carry out for the 70th anniversary of Bagad.

A choreography in front of the presidential platform, which also generates (a lot) of stress for Maheleg, the conductor.

"The music, we master, but the choreography, it's something else! We're not used to doing that at all!", He exclaims at the microphone of Europe 1. The Frisian Breton : "It will do something, to arrive on the Champs-Élysées. We know that there will be a silence, then it will be ours", says the conductor.

© Romane Hocquet / Europe 1

With his bagpipes, he will set the rhythm for the ten-minute concert, opening the parade.