An association to support the greatest event of the year in Bize:

The Friends of the Olive Tree in Minervois

Some of the volunteers from the village.

From the spring every year, meetings of the volunteers are organised to plan the organisation and logistics of the Olive Festival.

Every season, the present treasurer, Bernard Pla, presents the budget (which amounted to around 15,000 euros in 2007). This sum includes the costs for security, exterior sound system, royalties, fireworks display, publicity...
Pierre-André Marty, as president of the association, extended his thanks to the council, which subsidises the festival and makes the commune's technical services available. Amongst the other main donor organisations, we must mention the Community of Communes of the Canal du Midi in the Minervois and Oulibo, the olive-oil co-operative.

Extract from the leaflet for 2007 (Denis Bichet).

Every year, Denis Bichet, painter in Bize, produces the picture, which illustrates the poster for the Olive Festival. "The olive tree is an extraordinary tree, with its twisted branches, craggy and strong, which make me think of a kind of natural large bonsai", he said.

For info, you can find some of Denis Bichet's paintings on display in the entrance hall of the Oulibo olive-oil co-operative. Also, Mr Bichet shows a number of his paintings onthe internet, as seen on the site Denis-Peinture .

Posters and leaflets: Publicity for the festival - it is all a programme!

The posters and leaflets announcing the festival are being distributed throughout most of the region: public places and tourist offices. Broadcasts announcing the event are carried by the newspapers of the Midi, L'Indépendant and Midi Libre, by Radio Lengadoc and by Radio Narbonne Méditerranée.

To contact the association : The Friends of the Olive Tree in Minervois. Oulibo co-operative, Cabezac, 11120 Bize-Minervois.

Last Updated (Tuesday, 24 February 2009 08:49)