Music festival: the French find a little collective joy

Published on : 06/21/2021 – 23:30

“We don’t party anymore. La bamboche is over,” said Pierre Pouëssel on France 3 a few months ago. It was October 22. With these singular words, the prefect of Center-Val de Loire presented the curfew that would come into force in the region. Shortly after, the whole country was to meet the same fate, facing the second wave of Covid-19.

The virus remains unpredictable, but at the start of summer 2021, France is gradually returning to its pre-Covid-19 habits. The French are deconfined and increasingly vaccinated, businesses and establishments that have been closed for a long time are gradually reopening, and the party is once again possible. With the lifting of the curfew on Sunday, the traditional Music Festival could take place on Monday, June 21.

“The pleasure of meeting”

Admittedly, it was not a Fête at the height of previous editions. Because of the coronavirus, there are always rules to be respected, and it was not possible to organize major festivities as before 2020. In Strasbourg, the municipality has therefore not planned anything, considering that the new health instructions are fallen too late. The weather also took its toll: Rennes, Nantes and Tours had to cancel their schedules because of thunderstorms.

But wherever possible, music lovers took advantage. Roselyne Bachelot, the Minister of Culture, savored “the pleasure of meeting to experience culture, together, everywhere in France”. At the Élysée Palace, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron decorated Marc Cerrone and Jean-Michel Jarre, pioneers of electro music, before a concert in the courtyard with other artists in front of an assembly of 300 people seated.

In Nantes, homage to Steve

The 40^e edition of this popular meeting was the opportunity to reunite with the pleasures of the party. The sanitary rules, however, gave rise to somewhat chaotic times. Outside, wearing a mask is no longer compulsory except in the event of high traffic. In Paris, the police had to intervene several times to interrupt spontaneous prohibited events or too large gatherings which brought together unmasked spectators.

If the atmosphere was festive in most cities of the country, in Nantes, the heart was not really to celebrate music. A thousand people marched for Steve Maia Caniço, who drowned in the Loire two years ago after a police intervention. Relatives of the young man, who died at the age of 24, wanted “to pay tribute to him, for a peaceful purpose and not for a political claim,” said Moune, one of her friends. However, clashes erupted during another demonstration later in the city.

With AFP