The Festival d’Etay is only two days old and already there are long-standing accusations against the artists who perform at the Grounds of Abraham: non-participation and late arrival of festival-goers from the front zone – the gold scene.
Both Quebecer Geoffroy and Jack Johnson complained about it on their show Thursday night. The Hawaiian singer directly challenged the audience in the Gold Zone to tune themselves in with those packed into the general admission section to his left.
Photo QMI Agency, Guy Martel
“Prove yourself. It’s too much of a dance on this side,” Johnson said angrily.
Before the pandemic, the FEQ solved the problem by returning part of the roughly 400 square meter Gold Zone to festival-goers who had regular admission tickets.
In 2018 and 2019, the entire front of the stage is reserved for general admission. A corridor leading from the stage to the control room, which once divided the pitch into two equal halves, has been relocated to the south of the site.
Marcel Tremblay/QMI Agency
This configuration was intended to be used for this year’s festival, but with 24 hours’ notice, workers assigned to the assembly had to return to the pre-2018 layout, with a central corridor, when an underground pipe used burst. Pass the wires.
“He collapsed completely. It was no longer possible to run wires underground. However, the wires that run from the stage to the control room have a standard length and since we had to run them above ground, we didn’t have enough length to run them through the angled configuration of 2018,” said the communications director. , Samantha McKinley.
The latter said administrators want time to repair the pipe, returning it to a pre-pandemic configuration, before the FEQ ends.
“We’re crossing our fingers. You should still have time to do this because it’s not something you normally do during an event. »
Samantha McKinley believes that if the festival can fix things, it would be the best solution for artists and audiences. The experience of 2018 and 2019 will be conclusive, she believes.
“It responded to the artists’ concerns. We found the right balance. »
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