Top 3 turkey fests

Nothing drums up the festive spirit like looking your Christmas dinner square in the eye and waving it off to the other side…

FÊTE DE LA DINDE DE LICQUES

Each December before they truss them up, the kind folk of Licques give their prize turkeys a big send-off. Herded by the Brotherhood of the Turkey, the birds make their ungainly way through the village to the crowd’s cheers. Can’t stomach seeing your grub waddle down the street? Nip by the Licquoise liqueur stall first for liquid courage! Dec 14th–15th

licques-volailles.fr

FOIRE AUX DINDES DE JALIGNY-SUR-BESBRE

Félicitations are in order: Jaligny’s turkey fest is turning 70 this year. And it comes with quite the legion of exalted fans: from Queen Elizabeth to the Pope, everyone who’s anyone has received a coveted Jaligny dinde courtesy of the foire’s media-savvy organisers. Much like Licques’s, it bids its flock – beribboned for the occasion – adieu with much (fan)fare. Dec 18th

jaligny-sur-besbre.fr

LES GLORIEUSES DE BRESSE

Hand on heart, this is the most palatable photograph of Louhans’s fête de la volaille we could dig up. The feather in Burgundy’s cap, it celebrates the AOP-labelled Poulet de Bresse in all its (plucked) glory. But forget the ceremonial preamble and dawdle round town: this is strictly business. Savvy locals scour the stalls for the fleshiest, most Crimbo-worthy bird before lunching on the (cooked) merchandise. Dec 13th–17th

glorieusesdebresse.com