The Marseille festival of the Fiesta des Suds is threatened with disappearance for its 30th anniversary.
The Latinissimo association, which organizes these concerts every autumn, is sounding the alarm after the drastic reduction in the subsidy paid by the Bouches-du-Rhône department.
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"
Notified 10 months before the 30th Fiesta des Suds, this 73% drop in the department's subsidy can only endanger the festival,
" said Jacques Lantelme, the president of Latinissimo, regretting having been "
put before the fait accompli
”by the departmental council.
According to him, the department, which had not immediately responded to requests from AFP, paid 460,000 euros of subsidy each year to the Fiesta des Suds, a sum reduced to 125,000 euros this year: "
And again, only 65,000 euros have been officially voted
”, according to the president of Latinissimo,“
the rest is an oral commitment
”.
If the department's subsidy only represented about a third of the Fiesta's budget, "
its virtual elimination leaves little recourse to Latinissimo as to the maintenance of the 30th edition of the festival
", insists the association in a press release, "
by appealing to all local authorities and to the State
”.
"
Promising contacts have been made with the city of Marseille
", specifies this text.
"
But we have had no response since,
" regrets Jacques Lantelme, also stressing that he had not received any reaction from the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot.
The Dock des Suds also threatened
In 30 years of existence, the Fiesta des Suds has seen the Toulouse rappers of Zebda as well as the husky voice of Catherine Ringer, the guitar of the Englishman Damon Albarn, the poetry of Alain Bashung or the African reggae of Alpha Blondy.
Containment and Covid-19 oblige, the 29th edition of the Fiesta des Suds, scheduled for October 8 to 10, 2020, had been canceled.
In its press release on Wednesday, Latinissimo also warns of the threat of eviction from the Dock des Suds, this cultural place that it manages in an old building in the port which was previously used for the storage of spices.
While the association had a temporary occupancy permit tacitly renewed every three years, it was replaced at the start of 2021 by a precarious occupation agreement for a period of one year, non-renewable.
"
This ultimatum is unacceptable and incompatible with the event activity of the Docks des Suds
", insists Latinissimo, regretting again that it has never been able to discuss this problem for nine months with the leaders of Euroméditerranée, the public establishment of development owner of the building, managed 50% by the State and 50% by local communities.