The Vieilles Charrues are celebrating their 30th birthday with 280,000 festival-goers. A special anniversary, three years after its last “real” edition, without restrictions linked to Covid-19 with. As tradition dictates, the festival of Carhaix-Plouguer, in the heart of Finistère, opened with a binious concert, Wednesday evening, in front of the castle of Kerampuilh, interpreted by Bagad de Carhaix.
>> Vieilles Charrues: Stromae, Orelsan, Midnight Oil… and 400 drones for the 30th anniversary of the festival
It’s been like this for 30 years, but Jeanne Rucet, the festival’s programmer, was looking forward to this moment: “It’s very moving to find the site with its four stages, with the spaces dedicated to festival-goers and to find all the teams.” Director Jérôme Tréhorel sums it up perfectly: “We’re finally there!”
He remains cautious: “This year, it’s going, it’s great, but tomorrow, how do we envisage the rest?” The crisis has left its mark, budgets are on the rise, there are many shortages. Les Vieilles Charrues hold to their associative and 100% independent status: “To relive those moments of the first concerts, where the artists will go on stage, find the public and the volunteers. It’s a crazy thing at Les Vieilles Charrues, it’s unique, so we’ll fight to keep it going”explains Jérôme Tréhorel.
#old plows
The sun has risen over the old plows.
D-Day.
It’s goiiiiiiiii! pic.twitter.com/xOylWR2J9F– Finistère Gendarmerie (@Gendarmerie_029) July 14, 2022
This Thursday evening, the artists will take advantage of it, like Stromae, or Clara Luciani, who, from Bourges to Carhaix, is on all the dates this summer.“I think this album is going to come into its own at festivals and I think a song like Breathe again takes on its full meaning in front of an unmasked public or under the sun”believes the singer Martegal.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary, there will also be surprises. “Like Matmatah, who gives us a unique concert for the 30th anniversary of the festival. They weren’t on tour and we told them that it would be really cool for them to be there with us and they accepted, of course!”, enthuses Jeanne Rucet. And with them, 70,000 festival-goers or almost every evening, delighted to find “their” Vieilles Charrues after a somewhat sad “Covid-compatible” format edition last year.