“The 2024 edition of Vieilles Charrues could well be the last”, warns the festival

The organizers of the festival denounce several decisions of the municipality of the community of communes which put them in danger.

The organizers of Vieilles Charrues are concerned about the sustainability of their festival, organized every summer in Brittany, in a press release obtained by France Bleu Breizh Izel. They denounce the “recent decisions of the municipality of Carhaix and Poher community” (Finistère) which, according to them, compromise the future of the festival. “If nothing changes by this summer, the 2024 edition of Vieilles Charrues could well be the last”they castigate.

They point in particular to the decision to pre-empt a building, that of the former consular chambers located at the main entrance to the festival, and which the organizers wished to acquire. A sales agreement was signed in December, the building was to be occupied this summer. The festival also deplores an invoice for 367,000 euros sent, without consultation, in mid-April by the community for “the use of the Kerampuilh meadow [où se tient le festival]buildings and the provision of municipal agents”. They judge this “excessive and unfair tax”.

A “relentlessness” against the festival

The organizers point out that they provide numerous rewards, “notably more than 2 million euros in donations, works, shows, etc.” In this same press release, the Vieilles Charrues accuse the Poher community of having made the decision, in March, “to no longer make half of the land occupied by the festival campsites available from 2026” and their “force them to be moved”.

The organizers thus confide that they have “the feeling of experiencing relentlessness”, evoking “choices made with full knowledge of the facts” and “incessant reversals”. “The accumulation of these decisions leads us to an impasse”, they regret. If the festival has adapted in recent years, it claims to no longer have “no room for maneuver, no fallback solution”. The Vieilles Charrues are therefore calling “to the elected representatives of central Breton to save the festival”.

The mayor of Carhaix, Christian Troadec did not respond to requests from France Bleu Breizh Izel.