Beginnings At the end of the 1940s, following the creation of the first
bagadoù, several groups were established in various Breton towns. In 1949, the first "competition for the best ringers" organized by
Bodadeg ar Sonerien under the direction of
Polig Monjarret included a "clique" category, which was then the name of the first
bagadoùs, derived from musical cliques. Although
Bodadeg ar Sonerion had 500 members at the time, only three groups took part in this first edition, where each group had to be made up of at least 6
binioù, 4
bombardes, and 2 drums. The first championships, organized from 1949 onwards, brought together a small number of groups. Most of them were made up of traditional ringers, close to the rural culture of the time. This explains why the first groups to win titles came from small towns or rural areas. A group from
Carhaix, the
Kevrenn Paotred An Hent Houarn, won the first two editions in 1949 and 1950, and the ''Bagad Koad Serc'ho
, from a village near Morlaix, won the 1953 and 1954 editions. Kevrenn de Kemperle
and C'hlazig'', who shared the titles in 1951 and 1952, came from larger towns but were still groups of ringing couples from the surrounding countryside.
The "Brest era", from 1953 to 1970 During the "Brest era" of the competition, from 1953 to 1970, the dominant groups were
Kevrenn de Rennes, the two
Brest kevrenn (
Ar Flamm and
Brest Sant Mark),
Bagad Boulvriag and
Bagad Bleimor. The title was contested by these main groups for 17 years. The winning groups then came from larger urban centers, reflecting the changing composition of these groups; ringers followed their professional obligations and moved to bigger towns, and recruitment evolved.
La Kevrenn de Rennes was the first to make its mark during this period, winning the 1955 and 1956 editions, and taking three more titles in 1963, 1967, and 1969.
Bagad Boulvriag (declared winner in 1962 before being downgraded for lack of a tenor), and
Bagad Bleimor (in 1966, and sharing the title with
Brest Sant Mark in 1973).
Quarter-century between Finistère and Morbihan The following fifteen years, from 1975 to 1990, saw two new groups competing for the championship.
Bagad Kemper, which moved up to the first category in 1969, won four consecutive titles from 1975 to 1979 but had to share the following titles with
Kevrenn Alré, then led by an outstanding
penn-sonner, Roland Becker, who won the title in 1979, 1981, 1983 and 1986. In the 1980s, however, other groups succeeded in beating this duo:
Bleimor in 19807, and
Bagad Bro Kemperle in 1989. The 1990s saw the emergence of a third group,
Bagad Roñsed-Mor from
Locoal-Mendon, which managed to squeeze in between
Kevrenn Alré and
Bagad Kemper. This newcomer took the title in 1990, relegating
Kemper to 2nd place
Bagad Kemper only regained its title in 1991 against
Kevrenn Alré, but lost the following year to
Kevrenn Alré, and then again in 1993 to
Roñsed-Mor, who took the title.
Kemper regained the title in 1994 on points, while
Roñsed-Mor won the spring event in
Vannes and
Kevrenn Alré the summer event in
Lorient. The scenario was repeated the following year, with
Roñsed-Mor winning the spring event, held for the first time at Le Quartz in
Brest, and
Kevrenn Alré winning the summer event, this year tied with
Kemper.
Kemper won the title twice during this decade in 1997 and 1998,
Alré took the title in 1996 and
Roñsed-Mor in 1999.
Recent history From 2001 to 2007, the same groups shared the titles, except in 2001, when
Kerlenn Pondi won, and 2007, when
Bagad Brieg did likewise. From 2008 onwards,
Bagad Cap Caval dominates the championship with 7 titles (2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019). The rules changed in 2003, with the introduction of a ranking system based on the "
tuilage" principle: Bands in a given category with the highest scores in the winter event compete in the summer event with those in the higher category with the lowest scores. Scores from the previous six competitions are taken into account to determine whether a bagad moves up or down in another category, and the judges then score by rank. In the first category, only the top eight groups compete for the title in a category known as
Maout. The system came under increasing criticism, however. However, the system came under increasing criticism from the bands, prompting
Bagad Kemper to boycott the summer event in 2009. An internal
Bodadeg ar Sonerion music committee was already working on a reform of the scoring system at the time, which led to the introduction of a simplified scoring system for the 2010 edition. Each judge scores the various
bagadoù between 11 and 18, and each
bagad competes against the fourteen other groups in its division. as was the 2021 edition. In 2022,
Sonerion revived the championship, which exceptionally crowned its champion over a single round, during the Festival Interceltique de
Lorient. The 2023 championship returns to a two-round format. == Media ==