The Carabinieri Orchestra of HSH the Sovereign Prince took part in the 589th annual Festival of Joan of Arc held from April 29 to May 8 in Orleans, in the presence of Edouard Philippe, Prime Minister of the French Republic.

Every year, for eleven days, the city of Orleans commemorates Joan of Arc, the heroine of France’s liberation from the English in 1429. Between April 29 every year, the date of arrival of Joan of Arc in the city, and May 8, the day the English siege was raised, the regional capital beats to the rhythm of festivities, parades, shows, and a medieval market.

Each year, a young Orleans girl is chosen to play Joan of Arc during the holidays. The girl participates in commemorations and finds herself at the head of the procession during the parade of May 8, a lively culmination of the holiday season which thousands of spectators attend.

The Carabiniers du Prince accompanied ‘the Maid’ along the five kilometre parade route through the streets of Orleans.

Preceding Joan on horseback accompanied by her pages, herself followed by regional and national authorities, the Prince’s Carabiners’ Orchestra surprised and delighted thousands of spectators throughout the five-kilometre parade with an eclectic and surprising repertoire for a military orchestra. This unprecedented experience was brilliantly performed under the watchful eyes of Colonel Luc Fringant, Commander of the Prince’s Carabinieri