Paléo held its opening press conference on Monday morning with boss Daniel Rossellat sporting a colourful shirt- (straying from his traditional checked shirt). This time the fabric (which came all the way from Mozambique) matched the material decorating the press office!
An explosion of colours, lots of sun and a joyous mixture of cultures is what awaits this year’s festival-goers in the Village du Monde. 2013 has elected the multicultural and vibrant coasts of the Indian Ocean as its destination this year. Bringing together the Eastern coast of Africa and some of the nearby islands, this true “festival inside the festival” will be full of delicious food stalls and performances. There will be volcanic “pitons” (volcanic plugs) which have risen from the ground for the festival. An essential “oil” showcase will also take place there. (Check the one sporting the refreshing waterfall in the middle of the area!) This year Paléo is collaborating with Nouvelle Planète, an NGO which brings drinking water to Africa.
The new stage called “Les Arches” replaces the Chapiteau
The big novelty of this year’s edition is obviously Les Arches, the new stage which has taken up quarters instead of the Chapiteau. This new miniature grande scène will be able to host up to 12,000 people (versus 8,000 for the old stage). See photo below. The stage has it’s own structure with a bar and seats facing it, mimicking the one in front of the main stage. As Rossellat stressed, holding an experimental test in lab conditions isn’t possible with a festival, so it means having to throw yourself in with the 1:1 project and see it through, tweaking it as it goes along. Having said that everyone at Paléo is obviously very excited about this new stage
Campsite improved, Route de St Cergue now lit up
When it comes to other new changes, Paléo has upped the quality and security of the camp-site, improving the welcome and information area. The staff who work here deal with approximately 10,000 campers throughout the week. Security wise, the Route de St-Cergue is now totally lit up, making it much easier for people from Nyon to get to the festival on foot (without having to walk up or down a dark and twisty road!)
Daniel Rossellat also-jokingly voiced his concerns that the media wouldn’t have all of their attention taken up by the news of the Royal baby in the UK, as there were some pretty interesting things going on at Paléo all week!
After the terrible storm that hit us a few weeks ago, and the damage caused in Bienne at the federal gymnastics festival, the question of security measures and risks in case of storms were on the lips of a lot of people. Rossellat explained that they had learned from each incident in Europe, and studied it to see how to react to such a situation.The head of security for the installations for Paléo has recently finished a PhD in structural security for big outdoor event. All possible issues are thought of and Paléo is ready as it can be if face with such a situation.
Free water available on the festival grounds
Regarding the heat, Rossellat gave a few tips for a safe festival, firstly he advised drinking plenty of water. At previous festivals when the temperature rose to over 28°, the festival organisers observed a decrease in the sale of beer (abandoned for non-alcoholic beverages). He also suggested keeping in the shade as much as possible- free water is available on the grounds, and the toilets are equipped with drinking water (and not the warm water, as Rossellat pointed out ironically, that you sometimes get in nightclubs and venues.) If the heatwave does hit us, prevention messages will be increased on the grounds, to make sure festival goers don’t suffer any thing worse than sticky t-shirts and sweaty brows!
The HES-SO’s structure
This is Paléo and HES-SO’s ninth year collaborating on the grounds, and this year’s project, which brings students from all over the French speaking part of Switzerland together, is called Birdland. This forest of tree trunks, which have been planted without the use of any concrete, is the “nesting ground” of several projects which reflect on the question of freedom in today’s globalised and technological world.
Public transport
Daniel Rossellat also stressed the importance of car-sharing and coming to the festival on foot or by public transports, as Paléo actively works to reduce its environmental impact.
All photos- courtesy Jonas Parson
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