The beginning of the song, in English, goes:
On the bridge of Avignon,
We dance, we dance,
On the bridge of Avignon,
We dance, all in circles.
In Arles, all the community comes together to party and celebrate the fair. It lasts five days and evokes happiness and excitement amongst the locals. This tradition dates back to the Roman times where people from all across the Roman Empire used to come together in the Arles amphitheatre to watch tournaments and bullfights.
In Avignon, the bridge song was composed to commemorate the bridge around which the town was built. While walking around the town, I was able to see a countless number of references to the bridge and the famous song. People in Avignon are very proud of their bridge and thus, the song.
None of the traditions are really connected to the environment except for the fact that the bridge was built to carry people across the river. Otherwise, the bridge and the song would not exist! Even if these traditions are not strongly connected to the environment, they have still helped shape the people and the towns themselves.
