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The Bagnols Reggae Festival, from July 26th to 28th, presents Alpha Blondy, Jimmy Cliff and other stars of the genre. A story with twists that, since 2002 through three successive festivals, connects the Gard city with fans of Jamaican music.
Since Sunday, the food truck Jamaican Cooking Station is stationed in front of the Café de la Bourse, in Bagnols-sur- Cèze. On the menu: chicken jerk rice and peas coconut sorbet and homemade planter. On the squares and in the neighboring streets, the terraces are animated with the sound of Burning Spear or Peter Tosh, Jamaican flags float on the facades, the decorations adopt the green-yellow-red of Rastafarianism, portraits of Bob Marley enthroned in the showcases, restaurants display vegetarian menus … The third town of Gard (less than 20,000 inhabitants) has been familiar with reggae for fifteen years. For three days, she will see again the likes of Jimmy Cliff, Alpha Blondy, Ken Boothe, I Jahman Levi, Anthony B and Julian Marley, one of Bob's sons.
Le Bagnols Reggae Festival From Thursday 26 to Saturday 28 July, however, only saw its first edition. It adds its name to those of three other festivals that have succeeded each other since 2002. That year, Brigitte Kleb and her daughter Emilie, from the Oise, get bored of the bucolic park Arthur-Rimbaud, a shady bank that runs along the Cèze, on the edge of the city center. They create the Jamaican Sunrise where 16.000 spectators come to listen to Luciano, Sister Carol and, already, I Jahman Levy and Anthony B. But the festival is quickly victim of its success: from the third edition, the organization is overwhelmed, the cancellations are multiply, the inhabitants groan … End of the story. Except that the transplant took: the following summer, the Ja'Sound takes over and exceeds 20,000 entries. Las, the local organizers throw the sponge after two editions (continued for their mismanagement, they will be relaxed in 2010). Privileged witness, volunteer at Ja'Sound then Mayor of Bagnols-sur-Cèze from 2008 to 2017, Jean-Christian Rey recounts: "Beyond the difficulties, something happened: the meeting of reggae and Provencal culture. The people complained sometimes, but she appreciated the kindness of this audience. I keep the image of the little old people who, sitting on their bench to comment on the festival-goers' looks, always ended up talking to them. The main purpose of such an event is the mix.
"When I go to Jamaica, the artists tell me about two cities in France: Paris and Bagnols-sur-Cèze"
After the disappearance of the Ja'Sound, a dozen projects have landed on his mayor's office. That of Garance Productions, which brought the maximum guarantees, was retained. It was to relocate the Garance Reggae Festival maousse, organized in Paris since 1989, in the Gard village whose public now knew the road. From 2010 to 2014, Arthur-Rimbaud Park will host the biggest Jamaican stars, from Burning Spear to Yellowman, totaling up to 60,000 admissions per edition. Bagnols-sur-Cèze, a city deemed moribund where the unemployment rate exceeds 20%, is rotated: it becomes a European destination, its population doubles for three days, a giant campsite comes out of the ground, traders rub their hands. But the festival, a victim of its success, is beyond its scope. It's too much for Bagnols. "We could no longer finance the extra cost that it imposed on us, in terms of security in particular, not to mention that the organizers were demanding a subsidy" rewinds Jean-Christian Rey, today president of the agglomeration from the Rhone Gard after having bequeathed his chair to his first deputy.
"When I go to Jamaica, the artists tell me about two cities in France: Paris and Bagnols-sur-Cèze. Even if one can not speak of a "reggae town", it is clearly a local pride. The anecdote is told by Arnold Metrot. Bagnolais member of Collectif Boulega, he program Zion Garden, created in 2011 on the sidelines of the Garance Reggae Festival. An "off" favoring accessible rates, emerging artists and local actors, breaking with the big machine activated by Parisian service providers. After the disappearance of the Garance, the Zion Garden itself has become a big festival, with a gauge of 5,000 people per night. No less than 30,000 spectators are still expected this year, from July 23 to 28, on a meadow bordering the Cèze, with U-Roy and Mad Professor headlining, while 380 volunteers will spread the word "Love & Roots" , where it is about sharing and sustainable development. The Zion Garden has kept the reggae flame alive in Bagnols, where the Arthur-Rimbaud Park, over the last three summers, has swapped Jamaican rhythms against Electrobotik Invasion festival electronic music.
"We would like to create the ideal festival . A beautiful, family festival, where people feel good, because they are not treated like cattle "
The story does not stop there. She took over last December when Jérôme Levbadeur entered the office of the new mayor, Jean-Yves Chapelet. Parisian but mother Nîmes, Jérôme Levbadeur used to spend his holidays in Bagnols where he attended the very first festival, in 2002. "A particular emotion, because the whole city played the game" recalls. Become one of the most important programmers and turners of reggae in France, artistic director of the first two Garance Reggae Festival, he has mounted this time his own project, by embarking two partners in the adventure: Bastien Bacha, manager of Talowa Productions which organizes the tours of several reggae bands, including Alborosie and Ky-Mani Marley; and Meziane Azaiche, director of Cabaret Sauvage, Paris. "We would like to create the ideal festival " he says. A beautiful, family-friendly festival where people feel good because they are not treated like cattle. Intentions that result in a reduced gage (about 8,000) and a partnership with local Zion Garden activists. The principle was validated at the end of February … so to speak, yesterday. "The goal is not to leave too many feathers announces Meziane Azaiche. This is a run-in edition, without subsidies – we even pay the police. We have already budgeted between 150.000 € and 200.000 € of losses. I will be happy if we make 15,000 entries in total.
The artistic line is closer to root reggae, popularized in the 1970s and 1980s, whose texts alternate social demands, the opposition to the system and the spirituality of rastas. With its lot of international stars, curiosities (the first concerts in France of the singers Dezarie and Nkulee Dube), and always a scene dedicated to dub, including Aba Shanti I and Jah Shaka who will benefit from the sound system of the Rouen collective Blackboard Jungle, a reference in the field. While Garance had held five years, record to beat, the Bagnols Reggae Festival wants to register in the long run. To return to Bagnols-sur-Cèze its status as the French capital of reggae
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