Solidays, Hellfest, Eurockéennes or even Lollapalooza: several major French festivals have already given up.
Over the weeks, the list of canceled events keeps growing.
But in La Rochelle, the organizers of the Francofolies, the music festival created in 1985, hope until the end to be able to give life to the 2021 edition scheduled for July 10 to 14.
Read also: Canceled, maintained or postponed: the festival calendar in the time of Covid-19
Many major figures of the French scene are expected there, such as Jean-Louis Aubert, Pomme, Marc Lavoine, Vianney, Philippe Katerine or Laurent Voulzy. So, on Twitter, the organizers wanted to be reassuring: “The
whole team is mobilizing, working tirelessly on the development of the next Francofolies in July 2021. We are working jointly with the Ministry of Culture to define the health protocol that we will apply. The Francofolies 2021 will take place. And we look forward to seeing you at the beginning of May to discover a little more about the contours of this edition
”.
Yesterday, the director of the festival, Gérard Pont, once again shared his optimism with
France Info
, explaining that he wanted to maintain this edition at all costs, taking into account the constraints: “
We organized ourselves for that. We even started to incur expenses, whether for the teams, down payments with service providers… It would be much easier for us to do nothing! We would all be on partial unemployment
”. And if the gauge of 5000 seated spectators imposed by the government has annoyed more than one, especially the organizers of the Lorient Interceltic Festival, Gérard Pont says he is ready to respect the rule: "
Playing in front of 5000 seated people will always be better. than sitting behind your computer,
”he told the media outlet.
The festival director regretted, however, the vagueness on the part of the government: “
We were waiting for a calendar when our Prime Minister spoke and we did not get it. We feel that this decision is struggling to be confirmed,
”reports
France Info
. While waiting for new statements, spectators, organizers and traders hope to return to the Francofolies this year, which usually brings together more than 150,000 people and helps to energize the coastal town.
