Partner of the event, Europe 1 brings you the Vieilles Charrues festival from July 8 to 18, with interviews and live concerts by the artists of this 2021 edition every evening. But what do singers and musicians eat before to get on stage ?

Small tour in the kitchen, with the chef Babette Villegas-Ducloyer.

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This is information that circulates between artists every summer: the Vieilles Charrues is one of the festivals where we eat the best in France.

In Carhaix, no frozen steak and fries, but good little dishes prepared by the volunteers, under the leadership of chef Babette Villegas-Ducloyer, who has run the kitchens of the festival for no less than 22 editions, accompanied for six years by Antoine and Ludovic, cooking teachers in hotel school.

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"The Vieilles Charrues give us the means to achieve excellence and the teams of volunteers are fabulous", rejoices the chef.

"We do not open any box: for artists, we do semi-gastronomic with lots of love in it."

"A well-received musician is a musician who will put on a good concert"

The artists' restaurant, called "artist catering" in festival jargon, is judiciously installed in the Lycée Diwan, a few meters from the boxes.

It offers lunch and dinner, and even for breakfast.

"We start at 6 am or 7 am, depending on the arrival time of the first buses", specifies Babette Villegas-Ducloyer.

The catering adapts to all the needs of the artists and their teams: traditional menus, vegetarians, vegan, gluten-free. Babette Villegas-Ducloyer is ready for anything. She is the one who personally takes care of the meatless meals, and special requests that can sometimes be made at the last moment. "All requests are taken into account. A well-received musician is a musician who will put on a good concert," explains the conductor.

On the catering menu, the artists thus find a piece of saithe with vegetables, sautéed veal in Thai sauce, vegetables au gratin on polenta, seaweed tartare, langoustines, rib steak, vegetarian keftés, and zucchini tagliatelle with strawberries, in particular.

As for desserts, Yseult, Gaël Faye and Hervé were able to taste a strawberry millefeuille and a gluten-free chocolate-raspberry fondant on Tuesday noon.

Both obviously homemade.

Volunteers and festival-goers are not left out.

If they do not eat at the same catering, they eat only local products, prepared on site.

In 22 years of Vieilles Charrues, Babette Villegas-Ducloyer has served many artists. Many of whom then pass a head in the kitchens to congratulate her, like Manu Tchao, Sting and Pierre Perret. But it is Joan Baez that the chef retains the most moved memory. “She had been adorable,” she recalls.