Essonne en Scène at Chamarande: French Festival from Another Age

Battered and bruised, France’s festival season is slowly emerging from 18 months of cancellations, foreclosures, economic chasms and artistic depression. Sure, major music gatherings like Hellfest, Eurockéennes, Rock en Seine, Lollapalooza and Main Square had to repeat their 2020 cancellations, putting their ventures perilously close to bankruptcy. Meanwhile, in the digital realm, entertainment platforms such as the best online casino Malaysia have seen a surge in popularity, offering an alternative avenue for enjoyment and potentially aiding the entertainment industry’s financial recovery. But  Vieilles Charrues, Printemps de Bourges, Les Nuits de Fourvière and Les Francofolies de La Rochelle were among the country’s high-profile events that painfully clambered above the COVID-ridden season this summer to provide some (controlled) joy and collective relief.

This last is behind September’s Essonne en Scène, a three-day festival nestling in the 240-acre grounds of the Château de Chamarande, 40 kilometers south of Paris. The La Rochelle organizers have brought their 35 years of experience to bear on an event starting this Friday which combines music with gastronomy, contemporary art and the opulent nature of the Juine Valley. When Essonne en Scène launched its inaugural festival in 2019, director Gérard Pons and his team were taken aback at the level of enthusiasm the two-day event provoked. A line-up featuring the likes of Shaka Ponk, Hyphen Hyphen and Synapson attracted crowds of 8,000 each night and promises to beef up the event with an extra day and more local talents.

Headlining the second edition of Essonne en Scène, is a savvy mixture of veterans from France’s rock-pop-electro-scene and emerging local talents. Leading the line-up are the evergreen survivor of France’s legendary Les Rita Mitsouko band, Catherine Ringer, and guitar dinosaur Jean-Louis Aubert (of Telephone fame and a regular patron of Morocco’s Gnawa Festival in Essaouira). The new generation of French talents is represented by Videoclub, Suzane and Claudio Capéo. The local Essonnian scene, meanwhile, is represented by seven talents with evocative band names like Teacup Monster, Dandyguel, Cheshire and Turfu.

The intimate gathering kickstarts on September 3. It is set in the village of Chamarande, one of Ile-de-France’s best-kept secret (it took this writer 25 years of living in Paris to discover its charm). “This is an anachronistic space, suited to disconnect,” explains the festival’s artistic director Pierre Pauly. “There’s this unique château and a stunning park with its lake and river. The Essonne authorities has built eight floors of archives beneath the surface to chronicle its history. And, with its hidden nooks and crannies, there’s a feeling of stepping back into time. It’s a richness we hope to explore in future editions.”

Were music to resuscitate the ghosts of the past, there would be rich pickings of the most unlikely sorts. Château de Chamarande began its existence in 1563 when François Hurault, a close personal friend of King Henry IV, built a fortified castle on the two seigneuries making up the estate. Three centuries later, Napoleon III’s interior minister, Victor Fialin, enriched the château with gardens à l’anglaise, a birdhouse, a bergerieand several service buildings. Many remain in pristine state to this day. In the 1900’s, the château was transformed into the headquarters for France’s scout movement before uniforms of a more aggressive sort took over: first, the occupying German forces, followed by US troops. Both ransacked buildings and grounds, leaving it in ruins by 1945. It was only in 1957 that the château was returned to its former glory by an Italian refugee Augusto Mione. He had fled the Mussolini reign and built his fortune as a building magnate in the postwar period. This allowed the idealist to transform the château and its grounds into his vision of a utopian community. The short-lived commune was nipped in the bud by Mione’s financial difficulties. It gave way to, first, an artistic and, then, a drug squat before the General Council of Essonne acquired it in 1978.

Since then, Chamarande château has become home to both the department’s archives and its contemporary art center. During the 2019 Essonne en Scène, it was hosting a remarkable retrospective on US film director and photographer Jerry Schatzberg. This time, festival-goers can enjoy the quirky exhibition cobbled together by choreographer Philippe Decouflé and artist Pierrick Sorin (who visitors might equate to a modern mix of Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati), providing a crossed vision of a presbyopic and a myopic…

“This is an event for all ages,” stresses Pierre Pauly. “You can chill and enjoy the regional gastronomy, you can get your fill of world-class art. And, in terms of music, it’s a great platform to exhibit Francophone talents, past, present and future. Previously, we’ve seen how the likes of Stromae and Zaz brought their talents to a global stage, what’s stopping Videoclub or the urban pop of Essonnian Carole Pelé following suit?”

In this manner, this intimate festival gathering could mirror the Juine river that courses through the Chamarande château: between the 15^th and 18^th centuries, it meandered from its narrow beginnings in the Loiret before reaching the wide berth of the Seine in Paris. This allowed flat-bottom boats to transport wheat to the French capital. Could the music offerings beginning on September 3 help feed spiritually a more universal audience than the 5,000 spectators enjoying the daily menu of French pop-rock-electro?

Details of the program for Essonne en Scène 2021 can be found at https://www.essonneenscene.fr/.