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4th Festival de Loire

4th Festival de Loire

Published on 03 September 2009 - Updated 22 December 2010
Cet article date d'il y a plus de 15 ans

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:

"Flooding and Urbanisation: Friend or Enemy?"

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