Like Indochina, Louise Attaque refuses to play in Perpignan, an RN city

Born in 2007 in Argelès-sur-Mer, a seaside resort near Perpignan, the festival moved in 2022 to the Pyrenean city of Céret, before announcing in early January that it would hold its 2023 edition in Perpignan.

"We had planned to play at the Les Déferlantes festival on July 9. (...) It was moved to the town of Perpignan by the organizers, without our having been consulted. The mayor RN of the city of Perpignan s' is immediately congratulated," the group said in a statement on social media.

"Not wishing to endorse either the fait accompli method or the possible recovery of the festival by the town hall, we also ask the management of Les Déferlantes to do everything possible to find another place. (...) As it stands current situation and in this specific context, we do not wish to participate in this event", warns the group of Gaëtan Roussel.

On Sunday, the Indochine group had opened the ball by asking "expressly to the management of Les Déferlantes to move this festival to another place. Otherwise, we will cancel our visit".

In 2022, Les Déferlantes welcomed "more than 100,000 festival-goers over 4 days", but the public particularly deplored travel difficulties, according to the festival.

On Monday, the organizers of the festival took "note of the group's position to condition, for political questions, their coming to Les Déferlantes".

The city of Perpignan has been led since 2020 by Mayor RN Louis Aliot.

RN President Jordan Bardella on Monday denounced "sectarian and disrespectful" behavior.

Also regretting having been presented with the fait accompli of the move, on Friday, the Occitanie region "plans to lower its contribution to the festival, via Sud de France, its brand of promotion of regional products from Occitanie".

"This undermines the bond of trust between the organizers of the festival and the historical partners", added the Occitanie region, with a PS majority.

Sting, Bigflo & Oli, Damso, David Guetta, Lomepal, Izïa, Pomme, Rosalía and Soprano are the other headliners announced for this festival, from July 6 to 9.

© 2023 AFP