fashion designer's childhood home, Villa Les Rhumbs. After a first bid at the beginning of the 1990s, Granville postulated in 2009 to be labelled Town of Art and History. Declared 1 July 2015, in the sub-prefecture of Avranches, the association law 1901 "Granville, country of the foreshore" which comprises the communes of Granville and Saint-Pair-sur-Mer, Jullouville and Carolles, is now the candidacy "Lands of Art and History" label. Festivities The festive year of Granville revolves around various events. The takes place every year during the week before Mardi gras. It once celebrated the departure of the sailors who took advantage of the holiday before sailing for Newfoundland. In 2007, for its 134th edition, it hosted more than 130,000 spectators. The feast of the patron saint of the commune is organised at Pentecost. Each year, the third week of July is dedicated to the Rue Sorties de Bains festival, of which the fifth edition took place in 2007. Outdoor concerts are held during the tourist season. The procession of the Grand Pardon des Corporations et de la Mer [Atonement of the Corporations and the Sea] is traditionally held the last Sunday of July. The Night of Welders, a festival gathering metalworking artists, takes place during the first weekend of August. The same weekend the Journée du Livre [Day of the Book] is organised, during which writers dedicate their works. Two fairs are held on the second Saturday in April and the third Saturday of September, a flea market is organised during the weekend of 14 July and an antique fair during the weekend before 15 August. A collectors fair is scheduled for the last Sunday in October. In 2005, the commune celebrated the centenary of the birth of Christian Dior by organising, across the town, exhibitions and retrospectives on the work and life of the couturier. The Christian Dior Museum sometimes serves as a framework for events, as was the case in 2008 for the exhibition entitled "Dandysmes - 1808–2008, of Barbey d'Aurevilly at Christian Dior". Personalities linked to the commune Several public figures were born, died or lived in Granville: Born in Granville Louis-Georges de Bréquigny (1714–1795), historian and paleographer. Georges René Le Peley de Pléville (1726–1805), vice admiral, Minister of Marine and Colonies (1747–1816), mayor of Granville, member of the Council of Elders and the Tribunate Étienne-François Letourneur (1751–1817), Director of the First French Republic (1767–1837), frigate captain during