no big festival until mid-July, Avignon gives up

No festival before ” mid-July “ Emmanuel Macron announced: Avignon immediately canceled and the major cultural events of the summer, starting with Cannes, are more than ever threatened by the strategy to fight against the coronavirus.

“For the world of culture, the coming months will be difficult. The mobilization of the Ministry of Culture will not weaken. We will be by the side of all cultural players and will put in place a specific plan announced by Emmanuel Macron ”, tweeted the Minister of Culture Franck Riester.

Curtain for Avignon

Two hours after the intervention of the Head of State, Olivier Py, director, and Paul Rondin deputy director of the most famous theatrical event in the world, decided. “We shared hope as long as it was allowed, but (…) the conditions are no longer met today for the 74^e editing “, scheduled from July 3 to 23.

The City of the Popes usually becomes every July the “Theater capital”, attracting 700,000 visitors. There is the main Festival, says the “In” but especially the “Off”, even bigger (more than 1,500 shows, by a thousand companies in 200 theaters in the city). The President of “Off”, Pierre Beffeyte, explained to Agence France-Presse (AFP) to take note of Emmanuel Macron’s statements and the press release from “In”, and convene an office Tuesday morning and a board of directors during the week.

The economic spinoffs for Avignon are estimated at around 100 million euros, of which 25 million generated by the “In”. The cancellation promises to be catastrophic for thousands of artists and technicians, many of them intermittent. Since its creation in 1947, the Festival has only been canceled once, in 2003, in the midst of the intermittent conflict.

No stars on the Croisette?

On March 19, the Cannes Festival had already drawn a line under its initial dates, from May 12 to 23. However, the organizers wanted to keep hope and were working on “Several hypotheses”, “The main one of which would be a simple postponement, to Cannes, late June – early July 2020”.

But if we leave it there, this event attracting 40,000 professionals and 200,000 spectators, the most important and prestigious in the world of cinema, will probably not be held this year.

It would not be the first time that this world crossroads of 7^e art must give up. The May 1968 edition was thus interrupted after a sling led by filmmakers, Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut at the head, in support of the student and workers movement. The first edition in 1939 was postponed to 1946 due to the Second World War. The 1948 and 1950 vintages were canceled for budgetary reasons.

Can Cannes, of which Spike Lee was to be president, be summed up this year as an online festival? Thierry Frémaux, general delegate, swept the idea in an interview with Variety last week : “For Cannes, his soul, his history, his impact, he is a model who could not work”.

Music: silence, are we not shooting anymore?

References of the genre abroad for current music had set the tone, as Coachella, in California, postponed in October.

Since then, the essential French – Eurockéennes (July 2-4, 128,000 spectators in 2019), Francofolies (July 10-14, 150,000), Vieilles Charrues (July 16-19, 270,000) or Rock en Seine (August 29- September 1, 100,000) – tremble.

The first to make the decision for a clean year were the Printemps de Bourges (200,000 spectators in 2019), which was to be held at the end of April, then the Hellfest (June, 180,000 spectators), the Lollapalooza (July, 95,000 spectators) and Solidays (June, 228,000 spectators).

Can July festivals postpone? And do those of August or September have guarantees? Nothing is less sure. “There are American artists, who are building their six-week block European tour : will they come when their number of dates has already reduced with the first cancellations ? Without our headliners, the situation becomes untenable “, declared Arnaud Meersseman, head of AEG Presents France, which has Rock en Seine in its portfolio, to AFP in early April.

“The economic crisis hangs in our face : will people spend 80 to 100 euros on a festival? “, he wondered in conclusion.

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