Belgian singer and composer Paul Van Haver alias Stromae on the stage of the 18th edition of the Rock en Seine festival in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, August 28, 2022 (AFP / Anna KURTH)
The summer season of current music festivals will cohabit with the 2024 Olympic Games in France, between major events for the most part sanctuarized, questions for others and potential tensions around human or material resources.
The events “so-called emblematic should be held on the usual dates and formats, because of the discussions which have been carried out locally”, explains to AFP Malika Seguineau, head of Prodiss (National Union of Musical and Variety Shows).
As a reminder, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin had aroused the misunderstanding of the festivals / major concerts sector by evoking at the end of October 2022 the need for cultural events to be “cancelled or postponed” to the summer of 2024. In question, the massive mobilization of law enforcement for the Olympics (July 26 to August 11), but also before or after.
In addition to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris (other cities are also concerned), between the beginning of May 2024 and the beginning of September 2024, the Olympic flame will pass through many cities, the opening of the Olympic village, the 80th anniversary of the landing in Normandy, then the Paralympic Games.
Since a meeting at the Ministry of Culture in early November 2022 with all the players in the sector, a framework has been gradually defined for dialogue with local authorities.
Rock en Seine, a big festival in the Paris region on the last weekend in August, “is on the calendar, it was discussed with the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture”, told AFP Matthieu Ducos, director of the event.
– “Delicate” –
Same insurance for the Vieilles Charrues, a major event in Brittany traditionally around mid-July.
But on the side of the big festivals, there remains the uncertainty Lollapalooza Paris, which is being held next weekend, and therefore in the middle of the red zone in the summer of 2024. “It will not be on these dates and we don’t have still not managed to find a new site”, summarizes for AFP Angelo Gopee, boss of Live Nation France, structure behind the event. Who gives himself until “next Sunday to announce something”.
Festival-goers at the 25th edition of Solidays at the Longchamp racecourse in Paris, June 24, 2023 (AFP/Archives/Julie SEBADELHA)
For other meetings, medium and small, there are also “concerns” as Stéphane Krasniewski, in charge of festivals at Sma (Syndicat des Musiques Actuelles) told AFP.
The Olympic flame passes through cities at the same time as festivals, such as Les 3 Elephants in Laval and Levitation in Angers. “Will they be allowed to stand? Will the city be saturated at this time? Will there be an over-solicitation of technical means?” Asks the manager.
And to also quote these festivals “during the Paralympic Games, Hadra (in Allier) and Woodstower (near Lyon)”. “They can’t shift, because it’s very difficult to move a schedule without competing with another festival.”
Stéphane Krasniewski also points to “conflicts of use”: the Intemporal-les festival (Indre) is in an area “where there will be an Olympic base and no hotel will be available at this time”.
– “Harm” –
If the Parisian festival Solidays, one of the greats of the country, has “no worries” about its performance at the end of June, its boss Luc Barruet fears competition from the Olympics, a world-wide event which risks magnetizing “resources human (technicians, security guards, etc.) and material (stages, screens, etc.)” as he summarizes for AFP.
Festival-goers at the 25th edition of Solidays at the Longchamp racecourse in Paris, June 23, 2023 (AFP/Archives/Julie SEBADELHA)
In addition, Malika Seguineau recalls that “for concerts, Arena type rooms and stadiums will not be accessible for many months because they are occupied by the Paris Olympics. In the Paris region, we have the examples of the Stade de France, which will close also before the Olympics to carry out works, the Accor Arena (Bercy) or even Paris La Défense Arena”.
“In the Paris region, the loss of turnover is estimated at more than 160 million euros,” she continues. “We are asking for compensation, because it is a prejudice for the music industry”. The manager thus highlights “less copyright and less tax – loss of nearly 8 million – donated to the Cnm (National Music Center)”.
© 2023 AFP
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