FRED TANNEAU / AFP
The organizers of the “Vieilles Charrues” festival denounce the decisions taken by the town hall.
FESTIVAL – This is perhaps the end of a sacred meeting for festival-goers. The 2024 edition of “ Old plows “, the largest open-air music festival in France, could it be the last? This is what the organizers fear following recent decisions by the town hall of Carhaix (Finistère).
“If nothing changes by this summer, the 2024 edition of Vieilles Charrues could well be the last”says in a press release the association at the head of the festival, the 32nd edition of which will be held from July 11 to 14, with, among the headliners, Sting, PJ Harvey, Simple Minds and Gossip.
“These are no longer threats that weigh on the festival, but choices made with full knowledge of the facts”accuses the association according to which “ the recent decisions of the municipality of Carhaix and Poher Community condemn the future of Vieilles Charrues”.
Among the decisions that the organizers criticize local elected officials include a reduction in the surface area of campsites for festival-goers, requiring a partial move, a last-minute pre-emption by the municipality of premises for which the association had signed a compromise of sale with the seller, or even “ a new tax of 367,000 euros sent on April 12” last.
A long-standing battle between the town hall and the organizers
For the mayor of Carhaix and president of Poher community, Christian Troadec (various left, regionalist), the management and presidency of the festival “ engage in politics and blackmail”. “If they want to run for mayor of Carhaix in 2026, let them do so and the citizens will decide”, he declared this Tuesday April 23 to AFP. Today, “ they are organizing blackmail on facts that were anticipated and signed with them”assures the elected official, according to which the organizers “ since 2013 have aimed at gigantism » and would be “ in a sort of cultural productivism”.
Christian Troadec, one of the founders of the festival, recalls that in 2019, before the previous municipal elections, the current organizers had already expressed the possibility of moving the festival outside of Carhaix, to another town in central Brittany. “Generally, no one appreciates blackmail as a negotiating weapon during an election period”the mayor, re-elected in March 2020 in the first round for a fourth term in this town of 8,000 inhabitants, told AFP at the time.
Apart from the Covid period, the number of festival-goers has continued to increase over the years to reach, in 2023, the record figure of 346,000 entries. “They have lost the spirit of the festival”considers the chosen one, assuring: “ there is no longer anyone from the original team on the board. They emptied.
A festival anchored in the region
According to the organizers who cite a 2019 study, the economic benefits of the festival amount to 18 million euros, including 5 million for Carhaix and its region. While a good number of major festivals are today in the hands of private producers, Vieilles Charrues continues to rely on a pool of 7,000 volunteers in the region from around 130 associations.
“We welcome the cultural and media impact of Vieilles Charrues”summarizes Christian Troadec, “ but we do not want this to be to the detriment of the other economic development projects of Carhaix and Poher, nor at the cost of a privatization for their sole benefit of the Kerampuilh site”this large meadow where the festival takes place and where the elected officials have projects.
“We are always and more than ever viscerally attached to Carhaix and its inhabitants”, say the organizers for their part. “ We cannot imagine the end of Vieilles Charrues: we are now calling on elected officials from central Breton to save the festival”.
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