is described by the Count of Villeneuve in 1826, as an effigy of a "monstrous dragon, whose torso is assembled from hoops covered with a painted sheet metal, and whose back is made using a huge shield to imitate a turtle's carapace. The paws are clawed, the tail scaly and several times curved, the head is like a bull and a lion. A gaping mouth reveals several rows of teeth". The wooden hull described in 1818 required 8 men to carry, the metallic version needed 12 men. The tarasque of the festival of 1846 concealed 4 porters inside, and the one in 1861 needed 6 men. The head could be manipulated by a person inside, making the effigy's jaws open or close; from out of its nostrils fuses or rockets were made to poke out and ignited so it issued fiery sparks. During the festival, while the huge effigy of the Tarasque is carried through the streets, there are shouted the traditional cries for the in a popular song attributed to King René of Anjou: It later became established that the jeu de Tarasque would commence at Pentecost and continue to the feast day of Saint Martha on July 29, or the festival was held on those 2 days as two acts. Modern-day effigy By the 20th century, the tarasque effigy used in Tarascon was mounted on a wheeled cart, which are dragged or pulled by persons known as Tarascaïres, and these attendants of the tarasque could intermittently break off and engage in dance (farandole). Dates of observation In the past the festivals were only held sporadically in a major way, e.g., in the years 1846, 1861, 1891 and 1946 but since 1946 they have become a yearly event and tourist attraction. In the gap years (first half of the 20th century) when the jeu de Tarasque was in hiatus, different authorities were claiming different weeks and weekdays around Pentecost Sunday for the proper day for the ceremony, according to Eliza Gutch (d. 1931)'s paper, published posthumously. A tarasque feast was held on a non-traditional day on 23 June 1946 in Tarascon, for practical reasons. Subsequently, the holding of the tarasque festival in this last Sunday or weekend of June became annually recurrent. The Tarasque was designated one of "Processional Giants and Dragons in Belgium and France" listed in November 2005 as part of UNESCO's Masterpieces of the Oral and