Peasants or villagers hold a feast in front of a tavern or inn, recognizable by its red flag. They drink, eat and dance to the music of a bagpiper standing on a barrel. On the left, various distinguished personages, who stand out because of their different clothing, look on with a combination of curiosity and indifference. A large church in the background indicates there is a town nearby.

On the basis of works by his teacher, Adriaen Brouwer (1605/1606 - 1638), Teniers made innumerable genre scenes, but with a much more friendly treatment. Works on subjects very similar to the present one, which repeat groups of people and characters such as the piper and the dancers. The tree shown here was also used on several occasions. Here, it divides the scene into two parts: the volume of the house on the right, and the lines of perspective on the left, as was common in many of these works.

Sometimes, the artist as been identified as one of the noble personages in this work, although others considered one of those figures to be a portrait of the Archduke Leopoldo Guillermo, the painter's patron.

This work was probably acquired by Carlos IV. It was in the Royal Palace by 1814.