Speaking in the Senate of a massive mobilization of the forces of order, Gerald Darmanin warned Tuesday, October 25 that cultural or sporting events would be “canceled or postponed“because of the organization of the 2024 Olympics, scheduled from July 26 to August 11. “The important thing and the maneuver is also the cancellation or the postponement of all the events in France which require mobile force units, which require the very strong presence in numbers of police officers. We are thinking of major cultural festivals which take place during the summer; we think of major sporting elements which undoubtedly deserve to be a little out of step and which sometimes travel around France by bicycle, for example; major concerts; a certain number of major events, we think of the Braderie de Lille, if I speak of my region”he explained.
“That does not mean that things cannot be held (…) everyone can make an effort (…) I will talk about it again with the Minister of Culture“, reacted the Minister of the Interior this Thursday on France Inter, without however reassuring the musical sector.
Due to the health crisis, the live performance has already been bruised by a white season in the summer of 2020, a degraded season in the summer of 2021 and a recovery that was not at the level hoped for in the summer of 2022. “It’s amazement and incomprehension, there was no consultation to discuss this joint Olympics and festivals and it’s a lapidary and brutal announcement, without time or geographical scope.“, protests Jérôme Tréhorel, director of the Vieilles Charrues festival, in Brittany, which brought together nearly 300,000 people this summer.
“My arms are falling, culture, festivals, concerts had already been designated non-essential during the health crisis and so it is again the case“, deplores Stéphane Krasniewski, director of the Les Suds festival in Arles, and vice-president in charge of festivals at Sma (Syndicat des musiques contemporaines).
.@GDarmanin on the mobilization of the police for the 2024 Olympics, to the detriment of other events: “Having hundreds of thousands of people in the streets, so as not to reproduce what we did at the Stade de France, that requires a hyper presence #le7930inter pic.twitter.com/gnBOA3dC2U
– France Inter (@franceinter) October 27, 2022
“Without consultation, so far in advance, I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt of miscommunication to Mr. Darmanin, but it is quite sudden and violent and we cannot leave room for doubt.“, comments Angelo Gopee, director of Live Nation France, a major structure in the organization of concerts and festivals, member of the committee of producers of Prodiss (National Union of Musical and Variety Shows).
The current music sector is fighting against the received idea that postponements, for example, can be done in a snap of the fingers. “But we can’t postpone, we’re already working on the 2024 edition, we already have commitments, a cultural schedule, it doesn’t change like that“, emphasizes Jérôme Tréhorel.
The great international artists build their tours well in advance by zone, Europe, North America, Asia…”Postponements or cancellations will have an impact on the entire sector, artists, producers and then the halls which build their programming around the summer festivals.“, develops Stéphane Krasniewski. And to add: “Some festivals would be in danger, they would not recover from a second white season“.
Without forgetting that “dhe concerts, festivals, these are gigantic economic benefits, tens of millions of euros, thousands of direct and indirect jobs“, recalls Angelo Gopee. “Les Vieilles Charrues is six million euros of wealth creation in the city of Carhaix“, specifies Jérôme Tréhorel.
“The Vieilles Charrues were however already held in 2016, in a post-attack period, when France hosted the European football championship“.”There is, I think, a confusion between music festivals and sporting events, which Mr. Darmanin also mentioned and which require the massive mobilization of law enforcement every day.“, insists the manager of one of the most important festivals in France.
The music industry calls for consultation. “Culture is social ties, living together, that a country like France forces you to choose between culture and sport, it’s sad: the Olympics are an opportunity to bring together culture and sport throughout the country“, concludes Stéphane Krasniewski.