The Eurockéennes de Belfort will finally be able to start their programming on Saturday July 2. “On considers that the security of the site will indeed be sufficiently ensured”announcement on franceinfo, this Friday Matthieu Pigasse, the president of the festival. The first two evenings of concerts had been canceled after the passage of a big storm Thursday, in the middle of the afternoon. Seven people were injured by the fall of a metal tower. “NOTour passion, enthusiasm again, means that we must be able to manage these hard knocks, overcome them and move forward”, confides Matthieu Pigasse. This 32nd edition marks the return of the Eurocks after two blank years due to the Covid.
franceinfo: How have you lived these last hours?
Matthew Pigasse: It is a test for all of us. For the festival-goers of course, for the teams and for the festival. The terms that seem to me the most accurate to describe what we have experienced is amazement, that is to say a surprise at the violence of this totally unforeseen and unpredictable weather event. And then a lot of sadness in front of the damage and of course the injuries that were caused.
When did you tell yourself you have to cancel?
The festival opened at 4:20 p.m. The meteorological event, this tornado in reality, occurred at 4:45 p.m. At 5 p.m., we knew that the damage was very significant both on the site itself, with traffic lanes cut off, emergency routes cut off, human damage of course and also damage to structures.
The Eurockéennes will resume tomorrow despite everything. Was this decision easy to make?
She was easy to take and hard to take. Easy to take because we have incredible energy and passion. And the desire to resume and continue this adventure of course. Difficult because it was absolutely necessary to ensure that the safety conditions were respected. So we spent the whole of the night from Thursday to Friday and from Friday to Friday evening again, to ensure the security of the site, of the structures. But today, at this time, we are able to say that the festival will indeed open its doors tomorrow Saturday at 4 p.m.
Does that mean that very precisely, all the risks have been evacuated?
This means that we are in the process of making sure, of course. The security commission, which will give the agreement and the authorization for the festival, will pass tomorrow. But that means that at this time, we consider that the security of the site will indeed be sufficiently ensured.
For a festival organizer, what is the biggest fear in these cases, when you cancel at the last moment like that?
The biggest fear we immediately have is the human cost. Our thoughts are immediately to know if there are victims or injured, to understand, to know their condition and to organize the evacuation. It’s the first thought that comes immediately. The rest, I was going to say the logistics, the Organization come from behind.
Many artists who were to be scheduled or who will arrive tomorrow have shown their solidarity on social networks with the festival. It touched you, I imagine?
Yes, it touched us a lot. I wouldn’t say we were surprised because that’s music. It is this shared passion. But indeed, we received a lot of messages of sympathy, benevolence, empathy from the artists, some of whom were present on the site yesterday. And so they were able to see the violence of this tornado, and for those who weren’t there, we saw it through the messages they sent to us.