several music festivals call for blocking the RN in the legislative elections

The cultural world has plunged into a sort of astonishment since the dissolution of the National Assembly. Some festivals have taken a position against the RN, seeing it as a danger for culture and the media in the event of its accession to power.

Since the result of the European elections on Sunday June 9, then the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly, a sort of astonishment has gripped the cultural world. Some artists did not hesitate to take a stand, by signing a platform or posting messages on their social networks. Fifteen performing arts unions called on Thursday June 16, in a joint declaration, “to mobilize in favor of candidates who will oppose” the far right during the legislative elections. The organizers of certain festivals also took this opportunity to raise awareness about what the arrival of the RN in power means in their eyes.

There wasn’t even a debate. “We did it straight away, it was obvious”tell Fanny Bouyagui, the founder of Art Point M, which notably oversees the NAME Festival in Roubaix (North). “Yes, that’s the story of the festival and then I come from a family of immigrants, my father is Senegalese, my mother is French, my brothers and sisters are all workers. So it was who doesn’t vote at the Front… because in the North it’s still a bit catastrophic.”

In the press release posted on Instagram, the electro festival reaffirms its opposition to far-right values, and defends inclusion and freedom. A few hours before, it was the Art Rock festival, based in Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d’Armor), which had released a press release, speaking of “sinister sound of boots”. “It was necessary because our jobs are really the opposite of the values ​​defended by the extreme right, explains Carol Meyer, its director. We spend our time working on cultural and social openness, on discovery.”

She also co-chairs the De concert federation ! who immediately signed a joint text. Among the members, the Eurockéennes or the Vieilles Charrues, but also Japanese, Canadian and German festivals. “We know that when the extreme right takes power, culture is immediately one of the first targets. Culture and the media, particularly public media…”

In Roubaix, Fanny Bouyagui was delighted with the reactions to the message posted. “99% positive messages. I had a guy who said to me: ‘You’re forgetting someone, your stupidity’.” At her side, Sabine Duthoit, co-organizer of the NAME Festival, believes that“there is also a need for cultural actors to get involved and embody something, values”. And Carol Meyer, for Art Rock and De concert!, does not budge. “Obviously we have to speak, and absolutely anyone can speak. Art and culture have always been engaged and political.”

And everyone who reacted knows that with a young audience, they have a role to play : encourage those who did not do so on Sunday to go and vote on June 30 and July 7, so as not to experience a summer with a hangover.