“Lous Tchancayres”, in the Landes’ dialect, it’s all simply means in English “The Men on Stilts” (“Les Echassiers”, in French).
Since 1972, the year of its foundation, the members of the folk group Lous Tchancayres, all amateurs, have paid particular attention to reviving their ancestors dances and customs.
Our group is made up of an average of 25 women and men on stilts, aged from 5 to 35, 8 dancers at ground level and 4 musicians.
 

The youngest

The group (almost) complete

People on stilts out walking

In the traditional customs, on top of their stilts but at ground level too, our dancers will surprise you with their ability to perform “rondeaux”, “polkas”, jigs, “scottishes”… 
Some of our members take part in the races on stilts of the Landes folk groups federation tournament too.
 

Our spectacles

Every year, the group Lous Tchancayres organizes twenty around trips to present its dances in the different regions of France but also abroad.
So, we liven up various types of events :
- villages fetes,
- fairs, commercial events

We take part in national and international festivals too, including in the recent past :
- 1993 : tour of 2 weeks through Ukrainia
- 1995 : International Festival of Folklore in Israel
- 1997 : Festival of the “Hareng d’Or” (Gold Herring) in Etaples sur Mer (Pas-de-Calais, France) where we got the Public Prize.
- 1998 : Festival of the “Chêne d’Or” (Gold Oak) of Saint Amand Montrond (Cher, France)
- 1999 : International Festival of Folklore of Vitoria (Alava, Spain)
- 2004: Feast of Grape in Fréjus (Var, France)
- 2004: World Festival of Folklore in Montréjeau (Haute-Garonne, France)
- 2005: Engwiller Folie's / Inter-folk Musics and Dances Festivals (Bas-Rhin, France)
- 2005 and 2006: Festival Internacional do Mundo Celta de Ortigueira (Galicia, Spain)
- 2006: Festival Imaginarius (Portugal)
- 2006: International Festival of Folklore of Moerbeke-Waas (Flanders, Belgium)

Depending on the organisers’ wish, we make processions with music and up to 2 hours of performance of folk dances, for the best part on stilts but also at ground level. 
We are free at week-ends and during the school holidays.