BVL24 Festival in Montluçon: Gradur and Gambi rap concert cancelled at Place Piquand, basketball tournament started indoors

Storm, oh despair… Due to the orange alert (rain, wind, thunder, hail…), the organizers of the free urban culture festival BVL24, the first edition of which takes place this weekend in Montluçon (Allier), have played it safe.

The concert evening, planned outdoors at Place Piquand this Saturday, June 29, is therefore canceled. Some artists, including headliner rappers Gradur and Gambi, will still perform at another indoor venue. While the basketball tournament has been relocated.

The 3×3 basketball tournament

The common thread of the festival throughout the weekend, the Open Start 3×3 basketball tournament started well this Saturday at noon, but not in the planned locations. The outdoor areas of the Nerdre, Pierre-Dupont and Guineberts districts were deserted. Instead, the twenty-four teams and eighty players present were moved to two gymnasiums in the city: the Guineberts and the Halle des sports.

The qualifying matches were thus able to take place, with four groups of five teams: two groups at the Guineberts and two at the Halle des Sports. In the end, the first four in each group qualified for the final phase of the competition. Which will be held this Sunday, June 30 outdoors on Place Piquand… if bad weather does not come to dampen hopes again.

The concert evening with Gradur and Gambi

On the other hand, there is no immediate alternative for the free concert evening scheduled from 5 p.m. to midnight, with nine guest rappers including stars Gradur and Gambi. The event will not take place as it stands. “Unfortunately, there are still big storms forecast, we were unable to do any rehearsals… So we are forced to cancel everything,” announced the organizers at 5:15 p.m., in front of dozens of fans already posted at the entrance to Place Piquand, on Boulevard de Courtais, which had been closed to traffic since noon for the occasion.

“A lot of rain and wind are expected, there is electrical equipment on the ground and on the stage, a giant screen, risks of crowd movements in the event of thunder…”, lists the service provider responsible for all the sound systems on the site, who initiated the cancellation request. “The question is whether we can guarantee 100% safety for everyone. And since we are not certain of the answer…”

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Dispatched to the scene, two elected officials from the city of Montluçon took note of the decision and organized the reopening of the Boulevard de Courtais immediately. “This is a choice made by the service providers and organizers, the municipality is sorry about it,” confides the deputy for security Pierre Laroche. “It is regrettable for the public, but the weather conditions do not allow us to guarantee the proper conduct,” he also says.

The fallback solution

However, all is not lost for spectators. The concert evening is postponed to the V and B bar, in the Saint-Jacques area. The establishment will open from 10 p.m., and not from midnight for the after-party as initially planned. Most of the artists, including Gradur and Gambi, are expected to be there.

However, the total capacity of the V and B (indoor + outdoor) being “500 people”, according to the organizers of BVL24, while up to 4,000 spectators were announced at Place Piquand, not everyone will be able to attend the show.

The following

Finally, what about the rest of the festival, this Sunday June 30? The weather forecast being calm for the moment, the basic program could be respected… If Mother Nature finally agrees to give this very young BVL24 a ​​favor.

3×3 basketball and urban music in unison with the BVL24 festival in Montluçon [29/06/2024]

Luc Barre