France – music festival

25th edition of les Francofolies celebrates French music

Article published on the 2009-07-08 Latest update 2009-07-10 07:36 TU

Jean-Louis Foulquier founder of the Francofolies festival.
(Photo: www.francofolies.fr)

Bringing together three generations of French musicians, les Francofolies festival offers 130 concerts over five days in the western beach town of La Rochelle. It’s a celebration of the evolution of French music from Chanson Français to Rap.

Running the gamut from Jean-Louis Aubert to Diam’s, from Alain Souchon to Tryo to Arthur H, this year’s edition of the festival promises to be one of the most diverse yet.

A new team of organisers took over the festival, which was started by Jean-Louis Foulquier in 1985, four years ago. They’ve brought a second life to the event, improving the grounds, the organization and attracting new audiences. Last year’s edition broke the attendance record, with more than 81,000 paying attendees.

This year’s festival is not without it’s detractors though. The French rapper Orelsan, accused of encouraging violence against women in his lyrics, saw his concert cancelled by organisers.

Orelsan’s manager described the decision as “scandalous”, and said that it was the result of pressure on the organisers by politicians and women’s organisations.