“The Champ de Foire is the only venue in Haute Gironde that operates with professionals, a dedicated team,” says Thibaud Keller, the structure’s director and artistic programmer. The project was born in 1993, “from the energy of a group of people following the activities of the Bicentenary of the Revolution”, he recalls. This is how the Clap association emerged and quickly an agreement of objectives and means was signed with the municipality of Saint-André which therefore made cultural service agents available.
Originally, the offer was based on a song festival called “Chant avant” which took place at the end of September, plus a few other one-off events. The first shows took place outdoors, such as at Parc Robillard. The building of the current hall was built in 1997, on the eponymous square. “The festival ended in 2012 and the first real season must have been set up in 2013-2014,” estimates Thibaud Keller. Today, the Fairgrounds offers around thirty shows per year, including “Péripé Cirque”, the circus arts festival, launched twelve years ago.
Emerging projects
Enough to offer substantial programming to the population. “We are really based on discovery, emerging projects combined with quality,” underlines Thibaud Keller. The public comes from the Cubzaguais region and beyond. “85% comes from Grand Cubzaguais and Latitude Nord Gironde,” informs Carla Vieussan, in charge of communications. A population with which the Fairgrounds get closer since a third of the shows take place outside the walls, particularly in the village halls even if it is sometimes technically delicate. “It’s really the way to reach an audience who doesn’t necessarily come to the theater. Like the aperitif concerts, for example, which are real moments of conviviality,” continues Carla Vieussan.
Reconnaissance
This link with the population is important for the Fairgrounds. “We have a public service mission,” believes Thibaud Keller. Working with the population is important, we try to develop the participation of residents in cultural and artistic projects, we solicit them, in particular for memory collections. And generally speaking, we look at the desires and demands of the people here. »
Some 30 shows per year are offered per year by the Fairgrounds.
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The Fairground also carries out mediation actions, particularly in conjunction with the local Mission. “Sixty groups are supported each year. This allows them to discover the place and how it works and to have moments of artistic practice and exchanges with the artists,” explains Carla Vieussan. The other aspect is the establishment in 2013-2014 of a youth support action “which foreshadowed the establishment of the local artistic education contract (Cléa). The idea is to provide financial resources to allow children during school and out-of-school time to follow a course of awareness of artistic expression, again through practice and meetings with artists,” specifies the young female. The Cléa was first supported by the City of Saint-André and the Community of Communes of Latitude Nord Gironde, before the Grand Cubzaguais took over the city this year.
“We would have to take a further step by becoming a stage approved by the Ministry of Culture”
Dissemination, actions aimed at the population, the Fairgrounds is also a place, “of artistic support for companies, through creative and research residencies”, continues Thibaud Keller. Companionships, in other words long-term collaborations with companies, have also been set up over the past ten years. In fact, “we are well identified by companies from Nouvelle-Aquitaine but also French, and even international for the circus”. The Fairgrounds has come a long way to be a recognized cultural player. “The project is mature even if we continue to refine it. We must now take an additional step, on a national scale, by becoming a stage approved by the Ministry of Culture. But it’s a long job,” says the director.
By the numbers
Average attendance per season : 7,000 people.
Distribution by sectors : Grand Cubzaguais and Latitude Nord Gironde: 85% (including 30% Saint-André and 65% Grand Cubzaguais); Blayais, Estuaire, Fronsadais and Libournais: 10%; Bordeaux metropolis, Charente, Dordogne, Médoc and Arcachon basin: 5%
Representations. 30 shows per season (fifty performances), six free.
