Tintamarre’s loud celebration focuses on culture and language

It was a noticeably loud morning at Prince Albert’s City Hall Thursday, as the second annual Tintamarre Fransaskois saw a myriad of students come out to make some noise.

Tintamarre originates from the French word “clangour” or “din” meaning noise.

For the second year in a row, the Sociéte canadienne-française de Prince Albert (SCFPA) hosted the tintamarre, which saw hundreds of students and staff from various schools in the region, pour into the streets waving flags and making as much noise as possible with a variety of whistles and noisemakers.

Hundreds of students gathered outside of Prince Albert’s City Hall Tuesday to participate in the Tantamarre fransaskois, or Loud Parade. (Brady Bateman/paNOW Staff)

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SCFPA President Michel Dubé said the event aimed to teach children pride in not only their language, but their culture as well.

“It’s an old Acadian tradition. It never became popular outside of the Maritime provinces until about two years ago when we started celebrating it in our own fashion in Saskatchewan,” Dubé said.

“It’s basically just a chance for all the kids who are studying in French, or learning French through immersion programs or the Francophones in the Francophone school to realize it’s not just an academic subject, it’s a popular language, there’s a whole culture around the French language in Saskatchewan. It’s a chance for the students to mingle and express their pride.”

Dubé noted more than 600 children from five schools participated in the event. Prince Albert’s tintamarre was held in conjunction with Moose Jaw and Gravelbourg.

In 1955, during the 200-year celebration of the Expulsion of the Acadians, a Maritime Archbishop told families to kneel in outdoor prayer once the church bells began. Once the prayer was finished, he told residents to enter into a joyful tintamarre, featuring anything, everything and everyone that can make noise, shout and ring.

The move was reported as a re-birth of the French-speaking Acadians, two centuries after it was supposed to have been extinguished.

Students waved flags, and made a whole lot of noise during Prince Albert’s second-annual Tintamarre fransaskois, or Loud Parade on Tuesday. (Brady Bateman/paNOW Staff)

“I want to thank everyone involved, all the school boards involved all the volunteers who came out, and particularly the City of Prince Albert and the police department, and just all the people who made this possible,” Dubé said.

“Last year we were 250 people, this year we were 650. I think we have no choice but to give people the chance to participate again next year, and get together on a friendly basis.”

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brady.bateman@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TheDigitalBirdy