behind the scenes of the festival preparations with the volunteers, “It’s really something to share!”

0

Screwdriver noise and other hammer blows: no doubt, we are in the middle of assembly. Under the searing heat on Longchamp racecourse, the workers are hard at work bringing the 2022 edition of Solidays to life. Volunteers assist them over a relatively long period of time: “between three weeks and four weeks“, assures Mailys Gofensonhead of assembly among volunteers.

And the work is bearing fruit: the six scenes have been set up for a while. The hard installations are ready. But a little further, volunteers fight to music with a soft canvas. For them, this 2022 edition is a special year with the return of a festival as before. Understand without a gauge, without health restrictions, without the Covid-19 epidemic. “The 2020 cancellation was a tough blow to take. To think that it would be a year without Solidays was hard. We did a lot of actions apart from each on our side, things that were a bit virtual. We really received a blow to the heart “entrusts Mailys Gofenson.

Among the 3,000 volunteers, many have been sleeping on the site for the past few weeks. Between two missions, for example, they organized evenings: “We still try to get up the next day and be on time for the briefing. We also have a lot of interventions. Last night we invited three Sisters of the Perpetual Indulgence (an LGBT+ activist movement, editor’s note) to have a little informal thematic evening. We talked about HIV AIDS, of course, we talked about STIs and sexuality“, explains the head of volunteers.

In the production office, it’s a real hive, where everyone manages their tasks: food, cleaning, assembly, logistics. “There are a lot of people in this openspace: around fifty people for four weeks“, describes the one who arrived at Solidarité Sida in 2007, at the age of 18. Since then, not a summer without Solidays for Mailys Gofenson. “It really is something to share. It’s a family, it’s a breath of fresh air. Each mission takes on its full meaning because we are participating in something that is beautiful. It’s really very special“, she underlines.

“A lot of things happen. You meet absolutely fabulous people. It’s essential!”

Mailys Gofenson

at franceinfo

This very special festival is therefore preparing to come back to life for good for three days in front of more than 228,000 festival-goers. The 2019 record, which remains to be broken this year.


source site-9