ENGLISH TEXTS
fest, Solidays just drew in a quarter of a million loyal fans over three days last week, with performances by Damso, Gims, and Zaho de Sagazan.“ From two stages and 20,000 festival-goers in 1999, when the adventure began, we’ ve grown to six stages and 250,000 attendees,” says Raymond Lopez, who likes to call himself the“ director of solutions” of this festival that is committed to the fight against AIDS and promotes solidarity. Located in Paris’ s 16 th arrondissement, the site is exceptional. The 57 hectares— 17 of which are race tracks— have allowed Solidays to scale up impressively.“ The grass is great, everything is fenced— even though we add 10 km of barriers— we make use of the available buildings, we have a strong relationship with France Galop, with agreements in place for gardeners. The City Hall and the Region support us with real goodwill.” These are just some of the many advantages of the venue. But it does come with a few constraints.“ We begin setup a month and a half before the festival starts. However, races stop only a week beforehand. That means slowing down activity, clearing the central parking area on race days. We also have to share space with the golf course and the back operations of Roland-Garros.” Another challenge: despite the vastness of the site, Solidays has reached its“ capacity limit.”“ We’ ve grown over fifteen years, but now we’ re victims of our own success. We occupy 38 hectares and can’ t expand further.” So much so that the festival has considered relocating to the Bois de Vincennes, where We Love Green is held. Run by concert giant Live Nation, Lollapalooza joined the scene in 2017. It is now the fourth-largest festival in France, right after Solidays. Justin Timberlake, David Guetta, and Olivia Rodrigo headline the 7 th edition, from July 18 to 20. Launched with 110,000 attendees in its first year, the event has taken full advantage of Live Nation’ s dominant position to stack big names: Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar, Rosalia, Dua Lipa, Aya Nakamura, Charli XCX, The Strokes— all have already shaped the history of this young festival imported from Chicago. The record attendance stands at 170,000, reached in 2023.
A Growing Festival Scene ParisLongchamp doesn’ t have a monopoly on festivals. On a smaller scale, several events are gaining traction in the provinces. At Clairefontaine, for example, the Gärten on the Beach electro-pop festival launches with two days of concerts featuring Ofenbach, Feder, and Yuksek on August 9 and 10. In Maure-de-Bretagne, the Festival du Feu, blending rock and Celtic vibes, features concerts, pyrotechnics, equestrian stunts, and acrobatics on August 23. With a more Latino flavor, the Cuba Me Mucho festival arrived in January at the Lions d’ Angers racecourse. Around Halloween or the Fête de la Musique, the Invasion collective also organizes electronic music afterparties there. It’ s not new, but the Rock in Evreux festival once again filled the Navarre racecourse at the end of June with Louis Bertignac, UB 40, and Nada Surf. On the Mediterranean side, the 11 th Delta Festival, which proclaims itself as one of“ Europe’ s largest student gatherings,” will host Bob Sinclar, SDM, The Avener, Kavinsky, and many others at the Marseille Borély racecourse from August 27 to 31.
The New Nightclubs? At the opposite end of Paris, the Vincennes racecourse is also lining up two very trendy events: Yardland, a celebration of rap and urban cultures, from July 4 to 6 with Gazo and Tiakola headlining; followed by Peacock Society, an electronic festival on July 11 and 12, with Charlotte de Witte and Joy Orbison. The food and music concept Mad Jacques Fromage— featuring 847 kg of raclette and 12 hours of electro— returns for a third edition in November, and a fourth next spring. Also on the horizon: Verso Festival, scheduled for 2026, a 100 % techno event with two indoor stages, 10 DJs, running from 11 p. m. to 9 a. m.
Places to Party Extremely popular, the famous JeuXdi afterwork events at ParisLongchamp reflect the growing desire
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