The rumor had been circulating for a few days already. So the organizers took the lead, explaining why the 2024 edition of Vieilles Charrues that they are currently preparing could be the last. In a press release, the association managing the biggest festival in Brittany explains that “the recent decisions of the municipality of Carhaix and the Poher community condemn the future of Vieilles Charrues”.
Let us point out from the outset that the two communities are managed by Christian Troadec, who is one of the founding members of the festival. However, the former leader of the Red Bonnets and the organizers of the Charrues have been at odds for years already. And the recent decisions of the mayor of Carhaix have not really been likely to warm up relations. “If nothing changes by this summer, the 2024 edition of Vieilles Charrues could well be the last,” warn the organizers. Explanations.
Located on a huge site, the festival had to set up shop there all year round, taking over the premises of the former consular chambers located very close to the entrance. A sales agreement was signed on December 1 and the association hoped to move there this summer. “While the sale was to be concluded definitively, the municipality informed us on February 23 by bailiff and just before the end of the legal deadline, the decision to pre-empt the building. We deeply regret the absence of prior discussions or explanations,” denounce the organizers.
In full preparation for an edition which will see Sting, PJ Harvey, Simple Minds, Kings of Leon or even Grand Corps Malade and Eddy de Pretto play from July 11 to 14, the organizers are also complaining about the establishment of a recent tax. The association, which operates without subsidies, will have to pay 367,000 euros to occupy the Kerampuilh site. Here again, without any consultation having taken place. “A community does not have the right to allow a private person to make profits in the public domain for free and without competition,” replied Christian Troadec to our colleagues at Telegramestimating that the Vieilles Charrues had been “very favored and paid nothing” for twenty years.
Unaccustomed to expressing themselves so harshly, the organizers point out that their event brings in 18 million euros in economic benefits for Carhaix and Central Brittany.
“The feeling of relentlessness”
To top it all off, Poher Community announced on March 8 that it would no longer make half of the land used by campsites available from 2026, with a view to building a logistics base. “We are being forced to move them,” assure the organizers. The latter assure that the area proposed as compensation is not suitable and would double the distance to be covered for festival-goers (which is already excruciatingly long when your arms are full). “We have the feeling that we are experiencing a relentless attack on our association. Today, we no longer have any room for maneuver or fallback around the festival,” they warn.