its director “savors the pleasure of meeting the public in large numbers”

“We savor the pleasure of meeting the public in large numbers”, rejoices Saturday August 27 on franceinfo Matthieu Ducos, the director of the Rock en Seine festival which started Thursday and which lasts until Sunday evening, at the National Domain of Saint-Cloud. This is the 18th edition, with the guest-star for the closing tomorrow Sunday: the Belgian singer Stromae. Due to the health crisis, Rock en Seine had been canceled in its usual format in 2020 (just a symbolic evening in limited capacity) and 2021. Nearly 100,000 spectators were there in 2019.

franceinfo: Are you satisfied with the headliners of this 18th edition?

Matthew Ducos: We are very happy to have female musicians, rockers, like Izia, who we will be able to see on Saturday. They are very beautiful representatives of French music today. They have their place at the top of the poster.

The public is back at Rock en Seine?

There has been a very nice reaction, a very nice enthusiasm on the part of the public since we started announcing the artists who would perform on this edition, last October. On our four days of festival this weekend, we are two full days. Tomorrow, the last evening with Stromae will be sold out, with the last places on sale. We savor the pleasure of finding the public in large numbers, we have had more difficult editions in the past. We made a lot of effort, trying to take risks, in particular by spreading the festival over a few more days than usual. Seeing that these risks pay off is a great satisfaction.

Was it difficult to reset the machine?

Yes, we suffered from the same problems as other festivals: the technical service providers were extremely busy, because the season was intense. There wasn’t necessarily as much equipment or trained or experienced personnel, so that the sites could be carried out extremely smoothly.