It is one of the sectors to have been affected from the earliest times of the coronavirus crisis: culture has been hit hard by the bans on gatherings which this time represent a threat to all the festivals planned for this summer. The season is set to start soon, normally bringing together thousands of people during 2,000 events each year, all of which are in danger of being canceled.
>> Coronavirus: follow live developments
Among them, that of the Vieilles Charrues in Carhaix in Brittany. Its director Jérôme Tréhorel knows that it will probably not take place. "I think more and more strongly that there are such uncertainties that we will not be authorized to open. I do not see how a prefect, a minister, would authorize a rally in a few weeks with more than 5,000, 10,000, 70,000 people like the Plows ", he laments, at the microphone of Europe 1.
Some postpone, others cancel
This calls into question the entire ecosystem of festivals, which are largely funded through ticketing. Faced with this observation, the organizers would like to be fixed and know as soon as possible if they can take place, like Etienne Choteau, at the head of Hello Birds in Etretat. "We don't particularly want to take a health risk and put people in danger, but we would just like to know if we should continue to work on these projects or not because we don't have savings, structures, employees who depend on what. " Some have chosen to postpone the start of the school year, sometimes with fewer concerts. This is, for example, what Jazz sous les Pommiers in Coutances will do. But there is no guarantee that foreign artists, often big headliners, can fly.
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> How long are healthy carriers contagious?
> What are the side effects of chloroquine?
> Adulterated tests, false calls for donations ...: watch out for scams linked to the coronavirus
> Reading, board games ... How to stimulate your brain during confinement?
> How to avoid gaining pounds during confinement?
A support unit created by the Ministry of Culture
So others prefer to cancel now. The most recent: Worldwide in Sète scheduled for July and Hellfest, one of the biggest festivals. If the Ministry of Culture has not yet spoken of financial aid, it has however created a support unit for the 2,000 festivals which take place in France each year. The National Center for Music has places on March 23 an emergency fund of 11.5 million euros to support "VSEs / SMEs with a license to perform in the field of music and variety" because the cancellation of festivals summer is also a big damage for the artists who since the disc crisis, live thanks to the concerts.