Nontron Knife Festival: winners and first results

A successful event, according to organizer Jean-François Laidin. "We don't have definitive figures yet, since there are still visitors, but we know that we've exceeded 5,000 paying entries. In total, we're over 10,000."

For the "Dinner at the Table!" theme of this 29th edition, the Disciples Escoffier association organized several cooking demonstrations. "They were a real success, with talented chefs like Rémi Giraud, Pascal Bouvier, Patrick Guat, and Fréderick Autef," said Jean-François Laidin.

Three knives to design

But before the last visitors left, the Alexandre-Salle prizes - won by Manon Frys - and then the young cutlers' prizes took place (1).

They gathered and chatted among themselves a few minutes before the ceremony. All six of them recently graduated from their professional aptitude certificate (CAP) in Laguiole (Aveyron). "We all got very good marks," rejoiced Anaxandra Becouse, one of the students.

For this competition, the young people had to design three knives each in a day and a half. To create them, they were able to count on the help of some of the professionals present at the festival.

At 5 p.m., the jury and Nadine Herman-Bancaud, mayor of Nontron, met to award the prize. "The winner is Anaxandra Becouse," announced Jean-François Laidin, "thank you for your good humor!" The young woman thus won a trophy as well as a gourmet basket.

"It was really nice, we got a lot of help, and what's more, we were with the whole class," smiled the cutler. As the small group was having their picture taken, the organizer came up to them and said, knife in hand: "Whoever can open it, I'll buy them a beer!"