This unique music festival in France returns for a new edition in Lauragais

The harmonica festival Hers on the hipsorganized by the association Calmont’le Sonwill take place for the second year in a row in the village of Calmont. The event will adopt a program spread over one day more than the first edition since performances and workshops will take place on Thursday 9, Friday 10 and Saturday 11 May 2024.

A little less thanaround fifteen activities of all types are planned in several places in the village. Many groups of artists, including all at least one harmonica playerwill answer the call, like the duo formed by Michel Herblin and Guillaume Wilmot or even the B-Blues Company.

Bar And food points also await the public, as well as a stand with sale of derivative products around the festival to support the association.

A festival that renews itself

This edition, supported and monitored by the village town hall, tried to evolve compared to the first. Julien Cormierone of the organizers of the event, explains that if the festival had only welcomed duos in 2023, it is also programming this year quartets, quintets and several other forms of groups. Among the thirty artists present, the festival also managed to attract some international musicians.

In terms of new events, the organizers have selected a tale about the blues during the first evening which will be followed bya Jam.

A successful first edition

If the 2023 edition showed a positive result, Julien Cormier admits to having doubted the success of such a festival. ” The first one, it was a bit of a gamble. We really wondered if it was going to work. We were afraid that people would not come because of the a priori on the harmonica,” confides the representative of the Calmont’le son association.

But the project turned out to be a success. The festival, whose objective was to show that the harmonica was an instrument like any other, was able to bring together around 350 people. Julien Cormier testifies: “The mayonnaise took quite well. We got a lot of positive feedback. People told us they were surprised. »

A unique event

It must be said that the event can boast of being unique in France. Its organizer expresses his pride: “Today, a festival around the harmonica in France, there is only one, and he is in Calmont. » He also announces that people from all over France will be present since festival-goers “coming from Brittany, Savoie, Lyon, Tours and even Paris have already booked. »

Nevertheless Julien Cormier said he was worried. If the event can count on around thirty volunteers, nothing says that it can be sustained, which is nevertheless the wish of its organizer. The latter notably raised the issue of organization. It represents eight to nine months of work and is difficult to correlate with one’s professional life. One thing is certain according to him: he will need more help to ensure the survival of the event.

In addition, Julien Cormier maintains a broader fear for the world of culture. “When we see festivals in the region which are more than 40 years old and which are failing, this is not reassuring. I am worried about the future of culture and the sustainability of our festival,” he concludes.

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