Not the madness but the tunes of a fiesta.

Between the stalls of street-food vendors and the small stages, the public responded present, the mask less, the smile more.

And the big stage of the W was full for Gaëtan Roussel, with more than 5,000 spectators according to the organizers.

The singer, obviously delighted to be there, woke up the Berry, before the arrival of the Dutronc father and son.

Opposite, the festival-goers did not hide their pleasure.

"It feels good. We missed the concerts. We came to see the Dutroncs before the father stopped", explains Nathalie, fifty-year-old Parisian.

"But hey, him or someone else, we came to go out!" Comments Gilles, her husband.

A little further from the big top, place Séraucourt, the middle-aged crowd gave way to a younger audience.

On the still sparse dancefloor of the RiffX scene, 24-year-old Félix sips a beer while listening to a DJ.

"It feels good. Last year it was small," he rejoices.

"The first evening is always calm," warns the young man, a regular at Printemps.

"It feels like living without Covid. It's been a pleasure phew!" Cuts his friend Jeanne, 19.

"It brings the city back to life after a year during which nothing happened. We know we will be able to meet people."

The singer Gaëtan Roussel in concert at the Printemps de Bourges, April 19, 2022 GUILLAUME SOUVANT AFP

Lucas, sunglasses on his nose, beer in hand too, intervenes: "In town, there are a few small scenes. As the week progresses, things are moving more and more. It's been three years since we had lost Printemps. It's extraordinary to find him again. It's going to be crazy!"

-250 gigs-

In Bourges, the town hall is also delighted with the return of Printemps, despite the fears of not refueling raised by the organization of the event.

“Finding Printemps again after a cancellation and a minimal edition last year is nothing but happiness,” insists the mayor of the city, Yann Galut.

Spectators attend Gaëtan Roussel's concert at the Printemps de Bourges, April 19, 2022 GUILLAUME SOUVANT AFP

"We expect a lot of people because people need to share after the Covid. The weather is looking good, we expect a party for five days," he hopes.

The last complete edition, in 2019, had attracted around 200,000 visitors, offering benefits of around ten million euros, according to the elected representative on the left.

"This year, the festival is reinventing itself and will be much more present in the city. With Boris Vedel (the director, editor's note), our two visions come together. We had to extend the off, the presence in the bars. I wanted a city in party after the Covid”, he explains.

In total, this edition will see 250 concerts in the bars of the city center, just to put Bourges back in the Spring and no longer confine the festival to posters on the banks of the Auron.

"Spring is in the DNA of the city", develops the city councilor.

"Personally, my first Printemps was the very first, in 1977, on my father's shoulders. I have memories of the greatest singers, in all styles, extraordinary concerts, such as Renaud, Trust or Johnny Clegg. My youth was marked by Spring."

Thomas Dutronc (g) and his father Jacques Dutronc on the Printemps de Bourges stage, April 19, 2022 GUILLAUME SOUVANT AFP

And it's not Georgina who will say the opposite.

Crossed in the aisles of the festival, the 42-year-old mother came with her family.

"It's unavoidable", says Berruyère.

"We come every year to experience the event a bit. We took our eight-year-old daughter for the first time. We transmit as our parents did before us."

© 2022 AFP