Festival canceled near Dieppe: “We were crushed by TF1 and the Olympic committee”

The On the Paths of the Lighthouse festival, initially planned for Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer (Seine-Maritime), will not see the light of day on July 6, 2024.

This event highlights street arts, music and dance. Local companies, community restaurants, concerts and nature outings can be found on this occasion.

The Marakana association, in charge of the festival, was forced to cancel the meeting. The reason ? The passage of the Olympic flame the day before in Dieppe and therefore the lack of presence of law enforcement.

Marie Turmel, president of the association, is incomprehensible. On July 6, a techno festival is organized in Dieppe and in Quiberville-sur-Mer, The Voice tour will perform on the beach.

Two events which will indeed take place.

An impossible postponement for volunteers

Initially, the fourth edition of the festival should have taken place on Wednesday July 3 and Saturday July 6.

But the team decided to hold the event only on Saturday, “so that it would be less heavy”.

But also, because she had learned about the concert in Quiberville-sur-Mer. “The gendarmerie came to the town hall and issued an unfavorable opinion on the holding of our festival,” laments the president.

The municipality, the main partner of the event, proposed to postpone the event. “We work on the festival a year in advance. We chose this period to fit in with the surrounding festivals, we didn’t want any traffic jams, explains Marie Turmel. It was suggested to us to postpone it until the end of August. »

An impossible postponement, because “a good number of volunteers and organizers could not”, regrets the president. Today, she still doesn’t understand why the event had to be canceled.

Over the two days, usually between 1,500 and 2,000 people are expected. “Security is organized by a group of volunteers and we call on a guard from a private company for the night,” argues Marie Turmel.

The gendarmes come to make several visits to check that everything is okay.

Officially, it is therefore the Olympic flame which forces the organizers to postpone the event.

“Unofficially, it’s canceled because of the Quiberville-sur-Mer concert,” whispers the president.

“We are sorry for them”

Singled out, the community of municipalities which organizes the Quiberville concert defends itself.

The head of the culture department, Virginie Mulard, indicates that a declaration to the prefecture was submitted well in advance for this event.

And every year, at this time, Terroir-de-Caux organizes its summer concert. After Keen’V and Trois Cafés gourmands, this time, it’s The Voice tour which will be there.

“We are expecting between 8,000 and 10,000 people,” estimates the manager.

Virginie Mulard says she understands the organizers’ disappointment at the cancellation of their festival On the Paths of the Lighthouse:

“Why us more than them? I don’t know, but I feel sorry for them,” she says.

For this major concert, a private security service is hired, but law enforcement will also be mobilized.

As for the techno festival, organized at Talou Park in Dieppe, the question of cancellation did not arise, as Émeric Salgado, the creator, confirms, “because we are in a private area. It’s the bikers’ association that will be in charge of security,” he confides.

His event is expected to attract just over a thousand spectators.

Obviously, all the volunteers at the Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer festival are disappointed.

“We have the impression of having been crushed by TF1 and the Olympic committee,” sighs Marie Turmel. It really weakened us all the same, it mobilizes a lot of energy. »

The association will meet in a general assembly on June 29 to discuss the future and decide whether a new edition will take place in 2025:

“We will discuss it, because there is nothing certain yet,” concludes the president.

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