The Vieilles Charrues festival: a brittany festival in a world of its own

How has a country fete managed to become the number one French music festival in the space of fifteen years ? Why did the world-famous Bruce Springsteen choose the small town of Carhaix as the venue for his only French concert in 2009 ? The answer can be found in the unique quality of the Vieilles Charrues festival which used the inherent traditions of the Centre Bretagne region (an area which is traditionally bypassed by cultural events) and managed to create a large-scale event. The festival is proud of its identity and is not dependent on public funding. It has created a self-financing, unusual economic model, and an organisation which is almost entirely based on a local network of community associations. Every year, the entire Centre Bretagne region comes together to welcome some of the best-known artists in the world as well as more than 200,000 festival-goers.