Toulouse has never lived up to its nickname, the Pink City, so well. On Saturday 31 August, 30,000 festival-goers attended the third edition of the rap and song festival, Rose, which ran until Sunday 1is September and which, in four days, brought together more than 110,000 people. All dressed in the color pink. There a fuchsia hat, there a candy t-shirt or a flesh-colored cap. Created by the two darling children of the city, the brothers of the rap group Bigflo et Oli, co-organized with their promoter Bleu Citron and the regional daily The Midi Dispatchthe festival displays its colours loud and clear: “Proof that we are not so brilliant at marketingOli sums up behind the scenes, We didn’t even think of imposing this color code, it was the 5,000 spectators of the first edition who came dressed like that. Since then, everyone has played the game.”
Responsible for programming, artistic direction and merchandising, the two brothers played the same card for the decor. Their friend, the singer, Philippe Katerine, entrusted them with an inflatable structure, a five-meter-high man, obviously pink, placed next to one of the two stages facing each other. They also recreated an entire district of Toulouse, Place Saint-Pierre, and its legendary bars, with signs in… pink letters. The atmosphere is very funfair with a Ferris wheel installed on the site.
The decor is not the only feat of the two brothers. They have designed the festival for the public and the artists: “We did a lot of industrial espionagejokes Oli. We have been going to festivals for years, as spectators and as artists. We have focused on finding a place that is very accessible by transport for the public. Here, the tram drops off the spectators almost at the entrance. Fed up with festivals where you have to walk for an hour in the mud. And for the artists, we have thought of details that only we know, proper showers next to the dressing rooms, so as not to have to lug around in your dirty underwear. And then the tour buses are not parked very far away.
Balanced programming
Their programming is also particularly balanced. On Saturday, August 31, for example, the singer Pomme and her rustic decor followed the new wave rap of Rounhaa, who arrived on stage wearing a hood and carrying a microphone surrounded by black thorns; the day before, the electro of DJ Nina Kraviz followed the hardcore Booba. On Thursday, August 29, Francis Cabrel to MC Solaar and Jain. The Rose Festival is not limited to rap. It reflects the tastes of the two rappers, who are huge fans of hip-hop, but also the sons of a salsa singer and a French song enthusiast. “At the beginningOli admits, We had made the festival for ourselves, selfishly, to bring the greats of rap to our country. But in previous years, the parents of our friends who came only knew one artist out of six. So this time, we wanted to treat everyone.
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