If certain emblematic festivals such as the Vieilles Charrues or Rock en Seine are confirmed, uncertainty persists for other musical events scheduled at the same time as the 2024 Olympics.
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 “emblematic sayings should be held on the usual dates and formats, due to discussions that may have been held locally”exposes 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 incomprehension of the festivals/major concerts sector by evoking at the end of October 2022 the need for “cancelled or postponed” cultural events in the summer of 2024. In question, the massive mobilization of the police for the Olympic Games (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.
Rock en Seine, Old Plows, Lollapalooza
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 major festival in the Paris region during the last weekend of August, “is listed in the calendar, it has been discussed with the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture”, told AFP Matthieu Ducos, director of the event. 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 held next weekend, and therefore in the middle of the red zone in the summer of 2024. “It won’t be on those dates and we still haven’t managed to find a new site”, summarizes for AFP Angelo Gopee, boss of Live Nation France, structure behind the event. who gives himself up to “next Sunday to announce something”.
“Concerns”
For other appointments, 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 overstretch of technical means?”asks the manager.
And also mention 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 calendar without competing with another festival”.
Stéphane Krasniewski also points out “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” on his outfit at the end of June, his boss Luc Barruet fears competition from the Olympics, a world-class event that risks attracting “human resources (technicians, security guards, etc.) and material resources (stages, screens, etc.)” as he synthesizes for AFP.
Furthermore, 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 also close 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 royalties and less tax – loss of nearly 8 million – donated to the Cnm (National Music Center)”.