All weekend long, the controversy continued to swell. Why has the Puy du Fou, the large leisure park located in Vendée, obtained the right to accommodate 9,000 spectators on Saturday, when the limit is, until further notice, set at 5,000? Why this exemption, when it has been refused at festivals, or more recently at football clubs in Bordeaux and Marseille, who wanted to launch their Ligue 1 season with more supporters?
Asked this Sunday, the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, who was traveling, could not grant us an interview, but had promised to give us some answers in writing. Here they are. Will they be enough to put an end to the controversy?
On the fact that many consider the exemption granted to the Puy du Fou “incomprehensible. " I understand the emotion and the anger of professionals and artists who had to cancel their activities and it is a real heartbreak, assures the minister. The Puy-du-Fou park has not benefited from any privilege. The government wanted by a decree dated July 10 that exemptions can be granted to the ban on gatherings of more than 5,000 people by studying the situations on a case by case basis. We wanted these requests to be processed as close as possible to the field, by the department prefects. The situation of many festivals, especially music, is not comparable. Many are standing festivals, a configuration which remains prohibited today. The other festivals which could be organized in August while respecting the sanitary conditions (seats, distancing…) were able to be held, like the piano festival of Roque-d'Anthéron or the festival of Ramatuelle. "
“All the organizers can follow the same process and they will obtain exemptions when the conditions are met! promises Roselyne Bachelot. Each request will be studied and supported. It is curious to ask for flexibility and on a case-by-case basis , and then to demand chopping decisions. "
The good relations that Emmanuel Macron would maintain and Philippe de Villiers, the creator of Puy du Fou, did not play in the prefectural exemption . "There is no fact of the prince , assures the Minister of Culture. The prefect of Vendée examined the provisions of the health protocol presented by the organizers and made in connection with the Regional Health Agency. He accepted it based on the commitments made, in particular in terms of wearing a mask and separating the public into three sealed areas with 3,000 places each. Moreover, the Puy du Fou cannot be compared to venues and cultural festivals. The initial capacity is enormous and can make it possible to consider accommodating 9,000 people while respecting the distance. "
Will this exemption be renewed on Saturday August 22? “ The prefect has done his job within the framework of the regulations. He did it for the only show on Saturday August 15 and there will be an evaluation before deciding whether this will apply on Saturday 22, notes the minister. How can we imagine that we would have fun giving a waiver on the sly? Do you imagine that I knit while making fun of the artistic world? I have no taste for knitting. "
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And now what will happen? “The government has an agile strategy that is moving step by step by adapting regulations to changing health conditions and local contexts. But the subject is broader. The subject is also that of profitability, professionals believe that an 80% fill rate is necessary to ensure this profitability. I note in passing that if tomorrow all the constraints were abolished, it would take considerable work to restore the confidence of the public, especially the elderly and the most vulnerable. I'll work on it with everyone in the show business. In the next few days, I will be receiving representatives of the most impacted professionals. We have supported them since the start of the pandemic, and we will continue according to methods that we are going to study. Culture is seven times the added value of the automobile. It provides a living for hundreds of thousands of French people. I have only that in mind: finding solutions to help artists and the cultural economy as much as possible. "