FESTIVALS 2022 THE GUIDE


at the same time, and above all glorify harmony and taste, and generate wellbeing and happiness?” To find out you’ll have to join the thousands of green-fingered enthusiasts who visit this festival’s sublime gardens, exhibitions and art installations every year. domaine-chaumont.fr


MUSIC FESTIVALS Manche festivals


The northern department of La Manche, just a quick hop across the Channel, is staging a dozen or so festivals and events over the summer of 2022. There’s jazz, (Jazz Sous les Pommiers, May 20–28; Festival Grandes Marées, July 23–31), pop music (Festival Papillons de Nuit, June 3–5; Festival Chauffer Dans la Noirceur, July 14–17), wartime history (with celebrations around June 6 to mark D-Day), visual arts and circus


performances (Les Art’Zimutés, June 29 – July 2), dancing, theatre and comedy (Sorties de Bain, July 7–10), and


equestrianism (Normandie Horse Show, July 31 – August 8). Phew! www.manche-tourism.com/ show-in-normandy


Festival Interceltique August 5–14, 2022


As much a celebration of music as of Celtic heritage, Brittany’s annual Celtic festival, in Lorient, is a lively affair. Lasting just over a week, it sees around 4,000 performers from Brittany, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Cornwall congregating to honour


Rock en Seine takes place every year at the end of August


all aspects of Celtic culture, from traditional music to some rather colourful sports (folk wrestling, anyone?). Expect parades, contests, concerts, workshops, sailing, art, craft markets and much more, as this northwest corner of France makes a proper song and dance about a distinctly northwest European culture. www.festival-interceltique.bzh


Vieilles Charrues July 14–17, 2022


Queens of the Stone Age, Metronomy, Viagra Boys, Fontaines DC… the line-up for this excellent music festival – one of France’s biggest – in the Brittany town of Carhaix is as eclectic as it is impressive. First


set up in 1992, like all great music festivals, it started very modestly with just a few bands, barbecues, boot-throwing competitions and 500 or so guests. Nowadays it regularly draws well over 200,000 regulars. Previous headliners include Depeche Mode, Fatboy Slim, Lionel Richie, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. You might say it’s France’s equivalent to Glastonbury. Oh, and by the way, in case you didn’t know, Vieilles Charrues means Old Ploughs. www.vieillescharrues.asso.fr


The Zemlinsky Quartet will perform at the Wissembourg Festival


Rock en Seine August 25–30, 2022 Every summer, at the end of August, the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, right on the western edge of Paris, hosts an enormous music festival with five stages and a campsite for all the revellers. Headlining this year are Arctic Monkeys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Tame Impala, Stromae and Rage Against the Machine. “It’s not just a music festival,” says the director Matthieu Ducos. “We host photo and poster exhibitions, there’s a mini festival for children, conferences, debates… above all Rock en Seine is a meeting place, somewhere to express yourself.” The ticket prices range from €59 for a


single-day pass to €199 for all four days. www.rockenseine.com/en


Jazz in Marciac July 22–August 6, 2022


Marciac has been staging a jazz festival since 1978 and, in the past, has hosted such luminaries as Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz and Herbie Hancock. There are three festival venues, all in the centre of this southwestern town: a 6,000-capacity marquee, a 500-seat concert hall, and, offering free concerts, a stage near the Hôtel de Ville. This year, the acts are as eclectic as ever, with funk/rock maestro Nile Rodgers and his band Chic, Prince’s former backing band New Power Generation, and two Canadian artists – jazz pianist Diana Krall and singer Dominique Fils-Aimé. www.jazzinmarciac.com


Wissembourg International Music Festival Festival International de Musique de Wissembourg August 20 – September 4, 2022 Every year Wissembourg, a town in northern Alsace, invites many of the world’s best classical musicians to take part in


❯❯ Apr/May 2022 FRANCE TODAY ❘ 139


IMAGES © SHUTTERSTOCK, ZEMLINSKY QUARTET


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14