Miction impossible

This article examines the use of urinals at the major festival held in the city of Bayonne. Based on direct observations (2017, 2018, and 2019), interviews with festayres, members of the City Council, bartenders, and a review of the main local newspaper, this article first describes the practice of urinating in public during the festivities. After examining the City Council’s attempts to contain the issue, the article highlights the role played by a normative strategy, the modern equivalent of the handbook on good manners in Norbert Elias’s work.