Giant karaoke in the streets of La Rochelle, musical visits: the Francofolies festival, postponed by a year due to the coronavirus health crisis, will still honor its dates (July 10-14) with a few initiatives, said Monday his boss Gérard Pont at AFP.
"I couldn't see La Rochelle without the Francos, but no question of a digital version, because as I always say, emotion cannot be digitized, so we had this idea of 'Francos in the air'," explains Gérard Pont.
A vote of the inhabitants on 20 songs
Among the plans, there is this "giant karaoke": "on July 14 at 8:00 pm, people, in La Rochelle, would sing from the terraces, the balconies, the song embodying the Francos". "We will offer 20 songs, people will vote and we could distribute the lyrics in the mailboxes for July 14, publish them in the regional newspapers and we could play the music on the city speakers connected to our radio ephemeral, "explains the boss of the Francos.
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Another initiative, strolls in the streets of the city under various themes - such as "La Rochelle secrète" - with "a guide and at the turn of a street, an or an artist of the Chantier des Francos (nursery of emerging talents of the festival) who would play a song, "says Gérard Pont. They could be musicians from the current promotion of Francos or past vintages.
A free concert with physical distance?
Gérard Pont also imagines "a large free concert, with 1,000 or 1,500 spectators, in stands allowing to respect social distancing". "There would be no stage, the artists would be in guitar-voice or piano-voice, on a carpet behind their microphone, a little in a 1970s atmosphere, a little folk. There would be the artists of the Site but can -also be other guests, "says Gérard Pont.
For the 2021 edition, almost all of the headliners of 2020, such as PNL, Catherine Ringer and Nekfeu have also confirmed their presence and additional names will be announced at the start of the school year.