Cultural life in Valais has long been synonymous with popular art and folklore. Nowadays these traditions are still incorporated, with great sincerity, into daily life. Religious festivals and processions have always been celebrated and followed with fervour and Christian and ancestral customs have their natural place in our modern everyday routine.
Valais is proud to possess a bovine breed that is unique in the world: the Héréns breed. This robust cow has the particularity of being a natural fighter in order to establish the hierarchy within the herd. These combats take place without any provocation. In springtime when the animals are released from their winter barns and during the journey up to the alpine pastures, they challenge each other to see who will be their leader.
Cow fighting is a traditional Swiss event. Unlike bullfighting, in which humans fight bulls, cow fighting pits cow against cow.
Each year, the Swiss canton of Valais hosts a series of cow fights known as combats de reines ("queen fights"), which began in the 1920s and has drawn as many as 50,000 spectators in a year. The winner is called La Reine des Reines ("the queen of queens") and increases dramatically in value. At the end of the year, a grand final is held in Martigny, where the six best from seven districts do battle in six weight categories.
Cows naturally fight to determine dominance in the herd, and this is the behaviour that is exploited in cow fighting, using cows from the local Herens breed. With their horns blunted, the fights are mainly a pushing contest. Any cow that backs down from a fight is eliminated until one cow is left standing in the ring. It sometimes happens that the cows in a fight refuse to engage in physical contact with each other at all. Each fight can last up to 40 minutes.
Valais is proud to possess a bovine breed that is unique in the world: the Héréns breed. This robust cow has the particularity of being a natural fighter in order to establish the hierarchy within the herd. These combats take place without any provocation. In springtime when the animals are released from their winter barns and during the journey up to the alpine pastures, they challenge each other to see who will be their leader.
Cow fighting is a traditional Swiss event. Unlike bullfighting, in which humans fight bulls, cow fighting pits cow against cow.
Each year, the Swiss canton of Valais hosts a series of cow fights known as combats de reines ("queen fights"), which began in the 1920s and has drawn as many as 50,000 spectators in a year. The winner is called La Reine des Reines ("the queen of queens") and increases dramatically in value. At the end of the year, a grand final is held in Martigny, where the six best from seven districts do battle in six weight categories.
Cows naturally fight to determine dominance in the herd, and this is the behaviour that is exploited in cow fighting, using cows from the local Herens breed. With their horns blunted, the fights are mainly a pushing contest. Any cow that backs down from a fight is eliminated until one cow is left standing in the ring. It sometimes happens that the cows in a fight refuse to engage in physical contact with each other at all. Each fight can last up to 40 minutes.
Culture
| Pierre Gianadda Foundation | Cow Fighting | ||
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| Museums and exhibitions | Tourist and cultural guide |
Farrol Kahn
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My favourite villages are Eischoll, Bürchen and Unterbäch.
