Inside France’s Wild Annual Biker Pilgrimage

May 22, 2024 Off By Nick Thompson

Every August, motorcyclists descend on the tiny French commune of Porcaro, in Brittany, to get themselves and their bikes blessed for the roads ahead. The pilgrimage fuses biker culture with the Christian faith, and it even features a biker-priest.

The bikers’ benediction, known as Le Pardon des Motards, is a sub-event of Les Grands Pardons Bretons, an annual ancestral celebration involving over 2,000 processional pilgrimages in the northwestern French region. Depending on the local culture, specific pilgrimages might be dedicated to a particular cause or focus on a unique social group—in this case, bikers.

“This bikers’ pilgrimage is a variation of a typical pilgrimage,” explains Romain Ruiz, a French photographer who documents diverse expressions of contemporary folklore in France. “This is like a modern way of attracting new people into the Church.”

“France, except Paris and Marseille, is not very well documented. There are a lot of events, a lot of tradition, a lot of folklore and mysticism in France that is not visually represented. I felt it was my responsibility as a French photographer to really focus on my country and only my country,” Ruiz says. He uses flash and natural light to create a dream-like quality in his work, which has previously been featured in VICE.

Last year, there were between 10,000 and 15,000 bikers. There is mass in the morning, where the main priest––who is also a biker––lectures those in attendance about the importance of road safety. Ruiz says there is a small chapel with stones inside, each one representing a biker fatality on the road. Mass is followed by the hours-long benediction, where priests bless riders as they pass. The night before, there are drinks and music, which is good as some of the bikers “don’t give a shit” about religion. When the religion bit is over, the bikers ride (respectfully) around the town in their thousands.

“You have your solo biker, groups of bikers, families that love bikes. You have religious people, people that don't really care. You have people who come there just for the experience of being blessed. You have other people who really feel it, so when they are blessed they start to cry because they’re so moved,” Ruiz says.

His biker pilgrimage photo story is part of a wider series on French culture and society, France Parallax, highlighting the country’s regional quirks, which Ruiz jokingly calls the “French Metaverse.”