"
Madam Minister, excuse our somewhat familiar tone but on our side we do not cross our fingers, we squeeze our buttocks!"
".
The organizers of Hellfest effectively set the tone straight away in their long open letter, published on Facebook on January 18, for the attention of Roselyne Bachelot.
While the year 2020 ended with the cancellation of the metal high mass, bringing together 180,000 fans, the question of the next edition arises.
Scheduled for June 18, 19 and 20 in Clisson, the organizers are alerting the Minister of Culture to the need to take action now to ensure that it runs smoothly.
To read also: Ben Barbaud of Hellfest: "The risk of canceling the festivals in 2021 is important"
Recalling the words of the minister who on RTL, at the beginning of January, affirmed that we would go
"to festivals this summer, we have time
"
,
Hellfest opposes a clear answer: "
NO we do not have time and it is urgent that you become aware of this.
An event like ours requires a year of preparation assumed by many stakeholders ”.
Negative test less than 48/72 hours?
"Only here,"
the festival bid, "
restarting such a machine is expensive, very expensive.
We will therefore have to accept the idea that each month that passes from now on costs us more than 250,000 euros in salaries ... What structure would accept to spend such sums without guarantee of result? "
And for the organizers, it is excluded to simply "
guarantee
" a next edition subject to reduced gauges, curfew or other health constraints.
Their questions underlie an answer about the event in its usual form, outdoors, standing and without social distancing.
"Is it not possible to suggest that festival-goers come with a negative test of less than 48/72 hours, as is the practice for certain air trips?"
, they submit as an idea to lead the demonstration as they see fit.
A far from incongruous assumption after an experiment carried out by the Primavera festival in Barcelona on December 12.
Nearly 500 people attended a standing concert, indoors, with antigen testing at the entrance, mask on the nose but no distancing, and the possibility of removing the mask for a drink.
After analysis of the results communicated by the Catalan festival, no case of contamination.
In France, several concert-test projects are on the table.
A track mentioned by Roselyne Bachelot on France Info on January 8, stressing that it was "very important to support decisions on scientific studies."
Read also: Covid-19: no positive results detected after a test concert with 463 people in Barcelona
Anyway, it is time for the organizers to have "
the courage to do everything to allow the resumption of life, but surely not to let a situation deteriorate to the point of leading to its ban
" .
Before concluding: "With
this letter, Madam Minister, it is not only our association that begs you to act, it is a whole territory, thousands of volunteers, hundreds of intermittents, musicians, a countless number of service providers and partner companies
”.
To the best of my mind ...