Paris (AFP)

"A cancellation of Hellfest seems inevitable," Ben Barbaud, patron of the festival, told AFP on Friday, stressing that "5,000 spectators seated for metal is not possible".

This event specializing in metal, scheduled for June in Clisson (Loire-Atlantique), attracted 180,000 people in 2019 (canceled in 2020).

The Ministry of Culture on Thursday set the framework for the holding of festivals this summer: 5,000 people, seated and distanced.

"A decision will be taken in the coming days, I have to see my teams and speak with my international counterparts, but 5,000 metalheads (metal fans) seated and distanced, it is not possible", continues Ben Barbaud.

Gérard Pont, boss of the Francofolies, scheduled for mid-July in La Rochelle (150,000 people in 2019), is on the other hand one of those who welcome the announcements of the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot as "excellent news".

"Last year, in April, we were nowhere, without a decision, and here we are in February and we are told that there could be festivals, it's already great", he explains. to AFP.

"There are plenty of artists who dream of playing in front of 5,000 people, and then our programming is not international, so we can adapt, it's only positive and the situation can, who knows, maybe be even better in five months, "adds Gérard Pont.

Hellfest side, its boss stresses that this festival is the one which accumulates "the most handicaps": "an international program at 90%, 20% of the public coming from the international, 15 hours of concerts per day, a giant campsite and the public who drinks the most beers (while no decision has been taken to reopen the bar areas, editor's note) ".

"If some festival colleagues are delighted with the framework announced Thursday by the Minister of Culture, I am one of those who are not delighted: it is still the youth who will spend a rotten summer", judge- he.

"We realized that the epidemic was less present in the summer, this year we have the vaccines arriving and yet we have the same restrictions as last year", still laments Ben Barbaud, "stunned": " 5,000 people seated is the antithesis of a festival, because in a festival there is + party + above all ".

He knows that depending on the evolution of the epidemic, the framework could become less restrictive.

But "if the festivals of modest size can change everything a month before they are held, the big ones like Hellfest cannot wait until May to organize themselves".

Ben Barbaud does not rule out "doing something digital this summer, even a small concert for volunteers, but I cannot sell that like Hellfest".

The Vieilles Charrues festival (270,000 spectators in 2019), on the other hand, sees things in a positive light.

"We will adapt. It will not be a silent summer in Carhaix (Breton town where the event takes place), it will be the summer of reunion," its director Jérôme Tréhorel told AFP on Thursday.

The Parisian festival Solidays has already thrown in the towel last week.

© 2021 AFP