A persistent Covid-19 epidemic, a change of site at the last moment, the establishment of the health pass … everything was in place for Chartrestivales to be canceled for the second year in a row. And yet, the president of the organizing association, Lucien Roger, considers himself satisfied, a month after the start of this series of free concerts which is held five evenings a week at Parc André-Gagnon.
Chartrestivales will take place this summer!
What is your state of mind one month after starting Chartrestivales?
I am very happy, like all the volunteers. But it was very complicated to set up. This is a very special edition, but we have no regrets. Many organizers across France threw in the towel, but not us. We wanted Chartrestivales to take place at all costs.
“The public is much more participatory and motivated than in previous editions. “
lucien roger (President of Chartrestivales)
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Has André-Gagnon Park been adopted by festival-goers?
The site is not on the tourist route, so we lost them. On the other hand, we noticed that the public is much more participative and motivated than in previous editions. When the music is festive, people start dancing. There is ambiance. Artists realize it and tell us. And then, it takes time to change habits. For a long time, Chartrestivales was held in the city center. But, in recent days, we feel that the public is finally adapting. He realizes that the park is only ten minutes from the cathedral.
The whole program of Chartrestivales!
How did you manage the arrival of the health pass?
We still had to adapt. Every night we have two security guards checking the passes. They are three on weekends. This incurs additional costs. And since July 21 (Editor’s note: day of the establishment of the health pass), attendance fell. Some evenings it’s even halved. We made do with … But in recent days, we have seen the public come back little by little. This may be because the vaccination is progressing.
Isn’t this measure too penalizing for you?
It is not our role to challenge government policy. We are concert organizers, we don’t play politics.
Benjamin Biolay, Marc Lavoine … What we know about the next cultural events in Eure-et-Loir
Which concerts have been the most successful?
They are those of Friday and Saturday. Before the introduction of the sanitary pass, we reached the limit of the gauge (Editor’s note: 950 places). The most unifying shows are those aimed at the general public. This is the case with tribute-band. There was a great atmosphere with the Goldmen on July 3, then last Saturday during the tribute concert to Eddy Mitchell. Celtic rock is also very successful. But in our programming, we try to leave a place for all styles to reach all audiences.
Do all these adventures endanger the survival of the festival?
No. The Town Hall helps us a lot and I hope it will continue to do so. As an association, we cannot have an imbalanced budget. The additional costs this year were offset by savings. We have, for example, canceled the Monday concerts this year. We have also reduced our communication costs. We hope to come back to the city center next year.
Remi Bonnet
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