The open-air standing festivals will be able to resume from July 1 with 4 square meters per festival-goer due to the sanitary context: this announcement by Roselyne Bachelot arouses the incomprehension of professionals in current music.
"From July 1 (...), open-air festivals in standing configuration will be able to resume, according to a gauge of 4m2 per festival-goer and within a limit which will be defined by the prefect according to local circumstances"
, explained the Minister of Culture, heard Thursday by the Commission for Cultural Affairs at the National Assembly.
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“Talking about the reopening of standing gauges is good news, since these gauges had no prospect since March 2020. However, how to apply the rule of one person per 4 square meters?”
, commented for AFP Malika Seguineau, of Prodiss (Syndicate of musical and variety shows).
"The sanitary pass can make it possible to overcome the distancing which is impossible in a standing configuration," continues this manager.
This is how we understood this new device as an aid to the resumption of complex activities. ”
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Aurélie Hannedouche, from Sma (Union of current music), does not hide his bitterness from AFP:
"If we are talking about a land of 4,000 m2 for 1,000 people, that can be considered, there are enough spaces. large so as not to stick to each other.
But if we are talking about a square of 4m2 per person, it is unmanageable.
No one wants to have such an experience. ”
“
People come in couples or groups of friends and they will ask, which is legitimate, to be together
,” she adds.
And how, in this case, manage the movements of people who are going to have a drink or go to the toilet? "
"Too blurry"
The other point that worries the person in charge of Sma concerns the decision-making deadlines of the authorities.
"If the prefect answers us ten days before a demonstration, it will be too late,
" she objected.
We have 40 to 50 of our members who want to organize an event in July August.
If they don't have an answer by May 15, they will cancel, it's too vague and too risky. ”
Read also: Canceled, maintained or postponed: the festival calendar in the time of Covid-19
And to underline:
"With the communication of President Macron of April 29, we are told 'ah, it's good, it's going again'.
But everything is hidden in the heck of asterisks.
Protocols are not built.
With a wave of a magic wand, additional constraints appear, never discussed before.
At that price, we should have canceled three months ago.
It's not honest to work like that. ”
Faced with the health constraints put forward over the months, many big summer festivals in current music have already canceled, such as Solidays, Eurockéennes, Hellfest, Garorock, Main Square, Art Rock, Lollapalooza or even Musilac.
"I do not know how to do"
For the rare major festivals, such as the Vieilles Charrues, which have promised to be held this summer, the preparation times mean that they will not be able to return to standing mode and will remain on the old framework of the 5,000 seated people.
“We built a new festival, going from a gauge of 70,000 people standing per evening to 5,000 seated per evening, and that in a few months, it is a feat of strength for the whole team.
There, people standing with 4m2, I don't know how, ”
Jérôme Tréhorel, director of Vieilles Charrues, told AFP.
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The event organized in Carhaix in Brittany was based on a new arrangement of 10 evenings of concerts, from July 8 to 18, instead of the usual four days.
“We are going to work in detail for the proper implementation of the sanitary pass to avoid a heavy protocol inside the site: there will be no empty seats, we will be able to optimize the 5,000 places,
explains Jérôme Tréhorel.
The spectators will not be tied to their chairs, they will be able to stand up, dance, it will look like ten evenings of private concerts. ” "We are sitting down"
, also replied to AFP Gérard Pont, boss of the Francofolies de la Rochelle, scheduled from July 10 to 14.