Concarneau

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Administration
Commune of Concarneau The yacht harbor of Concarneau
Location
Longitude	-3.91°
Latitude	47.87°
Country	France
Région	Bretagne
Département	Finistère
Arrondissement	Quimper
Canton	Concarneau (chief town)
Intercommunality
Mayor	Gilbert Le Bris (2001-2008)
Statistics
Land area¹	41.08 km²
Population² (1999)	19,453
- Density (1999)	474/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	29039/ 29900
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Concarneau (Konk Kerne in Breton) is a commune of the Finistère département, in France.

The town has two distinct area the modern town on the mainland and the medieval Ville Close, a walled town on an long island in the centre of the harbour. The Ville Close is now devoted to tourism with many restaurants and shops aimed at tourism. However restraint has been shown in resisting the worst excesses of souvenir shops. Also in the Ville Close is the fishing museum. The Ville Close is connected to the town by a draw bridge and at the other end a ferry to the village of Lanriec on the other side of the harbour.

In August the town holds the annual Fête Filets Bleus (Festival of the Blue nets). The festival named after the traditional blue nets of Concarneau's fishing fleet, is a celebration of Breton and pan-Celtic culture. Such festival can occur throughout Brittany but the Filets Bleus is one of the oldest and largest attracting in excess of a thousand costumed participants iwth many times the number of observors. In 2005 the 100th festival was celebrated.

[edit] Economy

Fishing particuarly tuna, has long been the primary economic activity in Concarneau. Concarneau is one of the biggest fishing ports in France. Since the 1980s other industries have arisen, such as boat construction and summer tourism.

The Ville Close separates the working port from the yacht basin.