a “giant discotheque” for Voiles de nuit

Born in La Rochelle, David Proteau has a special link with the show Voiles de nuit. “With the president of the Grand Pavois [Alain Pochon]it’s our baby,” confides the internationally renowned artistic director of the Lacroix-Ruggieri group, to whom the Grand Pavois Organization association has once again entrusted the production of the free pyrotechnic show.

Nine years since the Voiles de nuit lit up the sky and the channel of the Old Port of La Rochelle. Deprived of its emblematic show since 2015, absent for economic reasons then canceled two years in a row due to the weather, the boat show is reviving the popular event, which in the past brought together more than 30,000 people on the banks of the outer harbor.

Saturday, October 5, under skies that finally promise to be clement, the festivities will begin at 6:30 p.m., in front of the towers and ramparts, with a sound and light show which should have celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the show in 2022.

“A stroke of brilliance”

The classic parade of old rigs will precede a new formula. “We used to tell a story, interspersed with large pyrotechnic paintings,” explains David Proteau. But, as it has been a long time since Voiles de nuit took place, he wanted something different, something modern. We need to give it a boost. »

So the artistic director designed a “giant discotheque” atmosphere, for which DJ Sam Tranchet, son of Philippe Tranchet, who is also the father of the Un Violon sur le sable festival in Royan, composed the musical soundtrack. Inspired by the BBC’s “ultramodern playlist” during New Year’s Eve in London, it will bring together “everything that makes you want to move”: from David Guetta to Daft Punk, via Kavinsky, with essentials: Abba, Patrick Hernández, etc.

As an aperitif, the public will be invited to play a musical quiz on the theme of the 80s and 90s. “We’re going to make him sing and dance so that he’s really hot at show time,” announces David Proteau.