Festival d'Avignon, Eurockéennes, Francofolies, the white season

Text by: RFI Follow

The coronavirus epidemic led to the cancellation of festivals in France until at least mid-July and probably much longer. The culture sector is expecting difficult months.

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He believed in it to the end! Olivier Py, the director of the Avignon festival was still working last week on the programming of the largest theater meeting in the world, but Monday evening, shortly after the intervention of Emmanuel Macron, Avignon, which attracts 700,000 spectators , announced its cancellation.

Ditto for the Eurockéennes de Belfort, in the East of France and Main Square, in Arras, in the North, scheduled for early July. Same verdict for the Francofolies de la Rochelle. " Following the declarations of the President of the Republic, this Monday, April 13, not authorizing the holding of festivals until mid-July, the 36th edition of the Francofolies de La Rochelle, which was to be held from 10 to 14 July 2020, is therefore postponed from July 10 to 14, 2021 ”, write the organizers.

As for We Love Green, in Paris, with Lana Del Rey, there is not yet an official announcement, but it could not take place either.

Unfortunately as it loomed, the 2020 edition of the Francofolies will not take place - We will meet in 2021! Take care of yourself, your family, your loved ones. We stay there for you! pic.twitter.com/Za6Ao0GKgi

A year and a half closed…

The organizer of Vieilles Charrues, in mid-July, is very pessimistic about the future of his rock mass. " The holding of the festival, I don't believe in it ," says director Jérôme Tréhorel to AFP. I am going to ask in the next few hours for a meeting of a board of directors to make probably the most painful but the most reasonable decision there is . ”

Finally, the Cannes festival, postponed to the end of June-beginning of July, will have to find another date or cancel everything.

► Read also: the cancellation of the Solidays festival is a serious blow to the fight against AIDS

Franck Riester, the French Minister of Culture, has promised a specific support plan for the sector. Thousands of jobs are indeed threatened.

In Germany, the Academy of Sciences plans to close stadiums and concert halls for a year and a half, in the worst case. Same prediction from an American public health expert, Emmanuel Zeke, in the New York Times.

The coming months will be terribly silent.

For the world of culture, the coming months will be difficult. The mobilization of @MinistereCC will not weaken. We will be by the side of all cultural players and will put in place a specific plan announced by @EmmanuelMacron this evening. # Macron20h

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• Culture
• Coronavirus
• Cannes 2020
• Music