From 23rd to 27th September 2009, Orléans is organising the Festival de Loire on the banks of the Loire, the largest gathering of river boats with 220 expected. 500,000 visitors flocked to the last one. Orléans will once again pay tribute to its river over the 5 days of the festival, blending boats, sailors, activities, contemporary art and music performances by renowned artists.
The main trends and innovations for 2009
With the
Canal d'Orléans reopening, there's space for welcoming
even more crews as well as water jousting.
The boats put on
a non-stop water show: 30 sailing along the Loire to
Orléans, regattas, throwing out fishing nets, train of boats
with pole manoeuvres, transport of animals, unloading using a list,
sand pulling, parades and water jousting.
Very active in river matters, Portugal is the guest
country with the partnership of the Douro, Tage and Porto
Cruz museums which look after the last traditional transport boats
in Porto.
The Orléans river banks come completely to
life
:
- livestock and horticultural market
- traditional shipyards
- several villages present traditional trades, exhibitions and
culinary specialities
- open-air café and dancing
- lighting up of the boats at dock
- concerts, aerial ballets, musical acrobatics and a big
firework display on the Saturday.
A brand new, spectacular contemporary art
exhibition
:
O'Fish-Parade
.
A sustainable development strategy based on 3
themes: environment/social balance/solidarity economy.
For example:
- recycling bins throughout the event site
- a compensation of CO² emissions produced by the arrival
of boats using land transport (their arrival along the river is
of course preferable)
- for the first time, two boats may welcome aboard people with
reduced mobility
- several open-air cafés will hire employees seeking to
get back into work.
A conference on the flood risk
Organised by the City of Orléans as part of the European
project "Flood Resilient
City", the Festival de Loire will be hosting a conference on
Thursday 24
th September 2009 entitled:
This event will encourage discussion and exchange on
innovative foreign and French experiences combining town
planning with the flood risk.
Orléans and the Loire: yesterday and today
As the main source of wealth for Orléans, the Loire was
once
a major transport route for goods and passengers, by which
life throughout the city flourished. In the mid 19
th century, river traffic in Orléans reached its
peak: the city welcomed 11,000 boats ferrying 150,000 passengers
and 400,000 tons of goods.
The arrival of rail transport in 1843, and the extension of
the line to Tours, Angers and Nantes in 1846, sounded the toll for
river transport.
For more than a century, Orléans ignored its river,
with the City turning its focus to the station.
In November 2000,
the Val de Loire was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage
Site for its living cultural landscapes. Orléans played a
key role in this regard and encouraged the City to restore its
historical links with its river. The city council, elected in 2001,
decided to launch
a
vast project to recover the banks of the Loire
, which had become nothing more than car parks. To enhance this
incomparable heritage, it also created the
Festival
de Loire
, a huge gathering of river boats, which kicked off in 2003.
This festival now attracts half a million visitors.
For Serge Grouard, Deputy Mayor of Orléans, "
the Festival de Loire is essential for our identity. It isn't
just about creating entertainment, but also a collective memory.
It's about
beginning to see Orléans once again develop in harmony with
and around its river."
Affiche -
Crédit photo : Samuel Roux
Festival de Loire
O’Fish-Parade
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