A move that makes noise.
Like Indochina a few days ago, the Louise Attaque group announced on Tuesday that it was refusing to perform in Perpignan, a city held by the National Rally (RN), where the Les Déferlantes festival is moving this year.
Born in 2007 in Argelès-sur-Mer, a seaside resort near Perpignan, the festival moved in 2022 to the Pyrenean city of Céret, before announcing in early January that it would hold its 2023 edition in Perpignan.
“We had planned to play at the Les Déferlantes festival on July 9th.
(...) It was moved to the commune of Perpignan by the organizers, without our having been consulted.
The RN mayor of the city of Perpignan immediately welcomed it
,” said the group in a press release on social networks.
“Not wishing to endorse either the fait accompli method or the possible recovery of the festival by the town hall, we also ask the management of Les Déferlantes to do everything possible to find another place.
(…) In the current state of things and in this specific context, we do not wish to participate in this event”
, warns the group of Gaëtan Roussel.
On Sunday, the Indochine group opened the ball by “expressly asking
the management of Les Déferlantes to move this festival to another place.
Otherwise, we will cancel our visit
.
Sting, Bigflo & Oli, Damso, David Guetta, Lomepal, Izïa, Pomme, Rosalía or even Soprano, are still announced as headliners for this festival which will be held from July 6 to 9.
In 2022, Les Déferlantes welcomed
"more than 100,000 festival-goers over 4 days"
, but the public particularly deplored travel difficulties, according to the festival.
On Monday, the organizers of the festival took
"note of the group's position to condition, for political questions, their coming to Les Déferlantes"
.
The city of Perpignan has been led since 2020 by Mayor RN Louis Aliot.
RN President Jordan Bardella denounced "sectarian and disrespectful"
behavior on Monday
.
Read also“Not an artist should pay the bill for the 2024 Olympics”: the growing anger of the festivals
Also regretting having been presented with the fait accompli of the move, on Friday, the Occitanie region
"plans to lower its contribution to the festival, via Sud de France, its brand for promoting regional products from Occitanie"
.
“This undermines the bond of trust between the organizers of the festival and the historical partners”
, added the Occitanie region, with a PS majority.
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