A l'UM la science [S03-ep30]: Festivals in rural areas
This week in A l'UM la science Emmanuel Négrier, researcher at Cepel Cepeltalks about the specificities of festivals in rural areas. In the second half of the program we return to Cemipai with Sébastien Lyonnais, who shows us his atomic force microscope. A program co-produced with Divergence FM and broadcast every Wednesday at 6pm on 93.9.
Over 7,000 festivals are held in France every year. This phenomenon has been expanding rapidly since the 2000s, but is far from new. It was Hector Berlioz who founded the first event of this type in 1869, and the Chorégies d'Orange, as the festival is known, celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2019. In another field, Concarneau has been organizing the festival des filets bleus since 1902. These rather modestly-sized festivals don't compete with the behemoths of the sector, such as the Lorient Interceltic Festival or the well-known Fête de l'Huma, which attracts over 800,000 participants every year.
While Brittany is often in the spotlight, Occitanie is also a land of festivals. Every year, over 150 such events take place in the Gard and Hérault regions alone, with an unsuspected heterogeneity. Indeed, what is there in common between the Parisian Radio France festival and the chickpea festival in Montaren, between the cratère surface in Ales and the printemps des comédiens in the domaine d'O, between the feu garance reggae festival in Bagnoles sur Cèze and the Tous contes fées in Clarensac?
Nothing at all? Or perhaps quite the opposite. This is partly what our guest's latest survey reveals. A researcher at Montpellier's political science laboratory, Cepel, which he also heads up, he has been coordinating the Sofest ! survey with Aurélien Djakouane for the past five years. Sofest involves 25,000 questionnaires, 3,500 volunteers surveyed and 1,300 festivals analyzed in 13 regions. This year, the two coordinators and their team of ten researchers focused on the specific cultural, social and economic logics of festivals in rural areas , which account for no less than a third of the 7,300 festivals surveyed.
To find out more :
- See also Lum magazine's article It's through lack that we see the place of culture.
- Also listen to the program Des festivals au terrain d'expérience du Cefe.
In the second half of the program, for the final report in the series devoted to Cemipai, Sébastien Lyonnais introduces us to his favorite toy, the atomic force microscope or AFM, coupled with fluorescence. It's the only one in the world installed in a level 3 biosafety platform, and every researcher wants it to visualize viruses or bacteria topographically, thanks to a device that offers incredible observation possibilities.
At UM la science you've got the program, here we go!
Coproduction : Divergence FM / Université de Montpellier
Animation : Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview : Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Production : Tom Chevalier / Alice Rollet
Listen to the program "A l'UM la science" on Divergence FM 93.9
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