The Rock in Évreux festival with a deficit of €259,000, the director announces that he is retiring

Published: September 22, 2022 at 9:40 p.m.

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A dramatic turn to Evreux. After being the founding president of Normandy Rock in 2016 and later becoming director of the association, Vincent Ficot announces in a press release sent this Friday, September 23, 2022 that he is leaving the direction of Normandy Rock. But that he will continue to help ” punctual “ Y ” volunteer “ to the board of directors.

€126,000 in additional expenses

An output that coincides with the communication of economic results linked to the last edition (which brought together more than 39,600 festival attendees from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 June 2022editor’s note), which did not live up to the expectations of the organizers, “since the festival loses €259,000 in its operating income” details the association.

In question ? Expenses exceeded the forecast by €126,000, “Essentially in the artistic position (€70,000), the technical position (€44,000), the security position (€12,000). The difficulty of maintaining these budgets for these concepts is mainly due to the difficult recovery context of the sector (explosion of artistic fees, lack of manpower in technical professions leading to significant price increases for service providers)”, justify the organizers.

€200,000 requested from the City Council

Revenues have also not lived up to expectations. €133,000 are missing to cover expenses. Targets in terms of public ticket sales and ancillary income (bars) were not achieved. “It should be noted that with equal attendance, revenue from public ticketing did not reach the levels of 2019, this due to the 2022 price policy in favor of young people (Pass culture, Atout Normandie, reduced rate) on which it has increased the festival its efforts to help young people in their purchasing power”, retain the organizers.

To try to remedy this, the association turns to the Évreux town hall. Apply for an additional grant of €200,000.

The file will be studied at the next municipal council, on Monday, October 3, 2022. Remember that the association has already obtained a “extension” of €100,000 in 2021 (€30,000 from the agglomeration, €70,000 from the City Council).

Normandy rock also indicates that it is addressing the Ministry of Culture through the device: “Support for festivals” and the Department of multidisciplinary dissemination and transversal programs (festivals). “Aware of the difficulties of restarting the festival sector (observed at the national level), Normandy Rock hopes for a favorable response to the investigation of these aid files”it is noted.

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