France - Post 18 - Fête du Quartier - Le voyage et L'ailleurs, (pt.1)

Hey everyone,

So in this post I want to talk about the previous weekend Friday, June 28-30 and what the NGO with whom I work and I did. To give a very quick overview, this is the 28th year that NGOs and close partners along with local business have chipped in to hold a 3 day festival for the 18th district neighborhood. Fill with many activities for kids and adults from concerts focused on the particular talents of individuals and groups based in the 18em, facing painting activities, free food and drinks, parades, etc., all with a flavor from Africa, France, and the particular district.

We were on the clock from Friday until Monday starting at 10am until between 7-10pm depending on what was needed. Friday began like this...

We arrive at 10am. Since Friday was not only the first day of the three day festival but also focused on the music and performances our jobs were primarily to help set up the area including the stage and to give everything around the area a more festive feel.

The performing area and where the stage was going to be setup had to be altered then. This area was located in between a park and Saint Bernard Church. The spot was one of those that at one point was probably a road but then cut off so it was a decent amount of space. The inside part of the gates on the church side was going to be cut off and covered so that performers could enter without being seen and then go up onto the stage from one of the side doors. In order to make this possible we closed the gates and shielded the fence parts with a cover made from pieces of bamboo tied together creating a wall for the all the artists. Next we tied up ribbons to the lampposts around the square giving the area a more festive feel. Thanks to other NGOs and companies/businesses alike, we were able to attain things necessary for a successful all ages festival: Stage pieces from Centre Musique Barbara, lighting equipment from Paris Mix, etc. I can’t remember right now all the names and possessions that we acquired from other associations but the items included speakers, tables, big and small tents, other interns to help, food, etc.

We actually had a choice of whether or not we wanted to work the event and I was one of the ones who had decided to give up their weekend for it. There were however several perks to this: Two free meals a day not including the finger food to which everyone who came had access, the rights to be behind the scenes and backstage during the concerts, a bit more authority, and just all around more access to the events.

Friday’s first event was the “Zé Samba” et “Banda’ê-tribal Bande.” This was the absolute beginning of the festival. It started about ½ mile or so from the church with a small walking drum line that played their rhythm for about 10 minutes before they started walking. As many people know from sporting and school events, drum lines can be loud and in a small area they attract a lot of attention. This started at “place de l’Assommoir.” At the beginning of the day all the older interns and workers were given shirts to wear to show their participation in the festival. The workers and interns that went were therefor wearing these blue shirts and walked with the drum line on either side and behind redirecting traffic and keeping people at a distance and away from the traffic. The musicians alternated between different beats and rhythms while the workers and other motivated people joined in and danced down the streets while the spectators took various pictures and videos of the spectacle. The entire show lasted for about 1 ½ hour from start to finish and the musicians more than doubled in number being composed of both groups by the final beat. This attracted many people and previous fête-goers knew that this was only the beginning. After that was the official inauguration on the stage to let the festivities begin. We were about an hour off but there was never an official stop time for any of the three days.

The rest of the night, beginning around 8:30, took place on the stage. We had a time where all types of artists from the district came and performed as individuals and groups. After that there was the soul-rap group “Sentinel Diego et le Jamen’s Band” and the blues group “Josfax” until past midnight.

This is how Friday went down and later I will go into detail about Saturday and Sunday. Monday was just a massive cleanup.

Hope you enjoyed reading and until next post!