8 p.m., Sunday June 30. In Quimper, the Irréducible festival was in full swing. On stage, Soldat Louis was setting the Kerourien plain ablaze when many phones began to vibrate with mobile notifications. Like that of the Télégramme: “The RN well ahead in the first round of the legislative elections”. For a fraction of a second, several festival-goers looked away from the present moment to take note of the political news. But it really only lasted a few seconds. “At the Irréducible festival, there is a dome that prevents people from thinking about the elections,” smiled one of the 400 volunteers present.
“We don’t do politics”
As soon as the festival doors opened on Friday evening, the tone had been set. During an inaugural speech, the socialist mayor of Quimper, Isabelle Assih, made a point of mentioning a platform signed by many artists: “The world of arts and culture is in direct contact with society and its developments. It exists through the encounter with others, the discovery of their differences, the expression of the intimate, while respecting identities and diversity. It participates in the collective construction of a sustainable, livable, desirable, fairer future,” she had read.
For his part, the festival president, Mathieu Gourmelen, was a little more reserved because “we don’t do politics here”. No politics, certainly, but the Quimper native was well aware, in a corner of his mind, of the importance of the current context which collided head-on with the last day of his festival.
“A little lightness”
This is also why the organizers had set up an original initiative by offering a free sausage pancake to festival-goers who voted. “It’s our way of bringing a little lightness to a complicated moment. We are fighting for culture and we will continue to fight, whatever the result,” said Mathieu Gourmelen. And, very clearly, culture won over the weekend, which brought together nearly 13,000 festival-goers from all walks of life who came to party and escape.
“We voted this morning and it’s pretty good because thanks to that, we got our sausage pancake,” smiled Valérie, 54, who came to clear her head with her cousin, Cyrille, 54. Two women who just wanted to “completely let go because life goes on and, perhaps, tomorrow we won’t be able to party like today.”
“Life should be a party”
“Now we can change our minds. We’ll see all that tomorrow and in the next round. Each day is enough of its punishment,” said Rodolphe, a young father. “It’s important to come and celebrate because the current climate is stressful. We are here to cut and enjoy. We forget everything. Politics, government, laws,” added Audrey and Arnaud, a couple in their thirties. “I think it’s very important to come and celebrate at times like this. Life should be a celebration every day,” said Hervé, 61 years old. “We will only look at the results tomorrow. For now, we prefer to enjoy the concerts,” added his wife, Florence, 54 years old.
“We feel it, there is a heavy atmosphere”
“Here, we completely disconnect. It’s a change from everyday life which is somewhat gloomy. There, we don’t want to talk about politics but just enjoy. We’ll see the results when we get back,” added a retired couple, Daniel, 71, and Patricia, 68. But, behind all these smiles, helped by the energetic concerts of the BRETONS collective, Dïe Morg and Komodrag & The Mounodor, no one was fooled.
“We’ve been here since Friday night and we can see that it’s still very much on people’s minds. We can feel it, there’s a heavy atmosphere,” confided Marion, 27. “Just talking about it makes me a little anxious,” added one of her friends, Manu, 32. “To be completely honest, I thought about it this morning. I wondered how things were going to go at the festival depending on the results because yesterday we met some rather extreme people,” reported Maryse, 55, expecting, like many, a brighter future.
