Carhaix-Plouguer (France) (AFP)

The Vieilles Charrues opened Thursday in Carhaix (Finistère) with the concerts of rapper Vald and rockers Balthazar, pending Booba, Zazie and ... Jamel Debbouze before some 55,000 spectators often masked or disguised for this 28th edition under the sign of carnival.

Previously, the kick-off of the first festival in France was given by the traditional "pull plows" elected officials and leaders of the event, originally symbolizing the desire to revive a region, the center of Brittany, in difficulty.

Shortly after 19:00 the Vieilles Charrues received the visit of the Minister of Culture Franck Riester, who came to exchange with some of the 7150 volunteers before going to meet artists.

The first day of the festival which is held until Sunday in a vast plain of nearly 11 hectares, 15 football fields, began with Vald on the main stage, the Glenmor scene, in front of tens of thousands of festival-goers already heated White.

Should follow on the same stage the one man show Jamel Debbouze. The artist, who was the first comedian 12 years ago to perform there, had to revisit in the early evening his show "It's now or never" in the sauce Vieilles Charrues, accompanied by a DJ.

He had to give way to the rapper Booba, which will be the first performance in Carhaix, then the electro duo The Chainsmokers.

On stage Kerouac, enlarged this year, was to resonate in the early evening Zazie's divinely raspy voice, before giving way to the funk of Nile Rodgers and Chic with planetary hits like "Good Times" or "The Freak". The techno was to close the evening with the energetic set of Berlin's Paul Kalkbrenner.

Among the plethora of other artists to appear over the next few days, Iggy Pop, Tears for Fears, Christine and the Queens, Martin Garrix, Aya Nakamura, Black Eyed Peas, Ben Harper, David Guetta, Jeanne Added, and Hubert- Félix Thiéfaine and Boulevard des Airs.

For its 28th edition, "the festival does not show quite complete," told AFP director Jérôme Tréhorel. "About 55,000 people (including 40,000 payers) are present Thursday, but Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we are full" (70,000 per night including 55,000 pay), he said.

The 27th edition of the sold-out festival attracted more than 280,000 people.

© 2019 AFP