Music and rurality are combined all year round
One could think that on the scale of this rural department, the music has only little space and time of exclamation, but it would be without counting without irreducible impassioned which during all the year resist still and always the cultural desertification. We can thus see various associations bringing music to life by basing themselves on an itinerant concept and by proposing regular events in small villages. One can logically think of the Abracada'sons festival in Guyenne et Gascogne, a pioneer of amplified (eclectic) music in rural areas for more than 20 years and which has allowed aficionados to see, among others, Rachid Taha in Miramont-de-Guyenne or Les Négresses vertes in Tonneins. Other events take place here and there during the year and bring the Lot-et-Garonne countryside to life from Puymirol to Monflanquin. There are also concert halls, such as the Florida in Agen, which offers a wide-ranging programme and has built up a community of followers and devotees because of its first-rate cultural offer, eclectic in its forms of representation.
Events that mark the musical year
Garorock in Marmande, Albret Jazz festival or even the Nuits Lyriques in Marmandais, there is a plethora of musical events to satisfy all tastes and this cultural abundance is mainly during the warm seasons. From the festival that presents international stars to almost 200,000 people on an immense plain, to the one that offers jazz lovers high-flying performances in a natural setting, musical culture is combined in the plural and the longevity and reputation of these evenings have over time made the Lot-et-Garonne a stopover point for lovers of live art.
Garorock is the flagship event of the music scene in the South-West and it has moved to Marmande over time and its growing reputation. Initially located in the current exhibition center, it then spread out on the surroundings of this area before settling in the Filhole, a huge natural space conducive to making Garorock what it is today. It has seen many French and international celebrities and the punk side of its beginnings is now a distant memory for the locals sometimes nostalgic of those years. DJ Snake, Muse, Indochine... the list of stars who have passed through Marmande is long, and this wide range of styles no doubt explains why this event, organized at the end of June, is one of the most important in France.
Nérac and the Albret region have been celebrating jazz for a few years now. This event continues to keep this style of music alive in enchanting settings like the castles of Albret and in an atmosphere that is both jazzy and gourmet, the opportunity to meet and see the best of the genre while having access to a certain form of exclusivity due to the space dedicated to the shows.
Classical music is celebrated in Marmande with the Nuits Lyriques, an authentic international singing competition and a springboard for young lyrical artists wishing to make a career in this art. Recognized as a recommended step towards a career in this field, it is an opportunity for locals and enthusiasts to come and admire and discover the voices that will make the opera of tomorrow. In the nearly 35 years that this event has been celebrating the art of opera, more than 470 prizes have been awarded and more than 5,500 singers auditioned.
Francis Cabrel, the grateful Lot-et-Garonne
It has to be said that the department's musical aura took on a new dimension when Francis Cabrel emerged on the French music scene. As his albums and songs have become classics, the man has always known how to support and be an ambassador of his Lot-et-Garonne heritage, if only in his accent, which he has defended against imposed artistic conventions, the roses he sings always having the sparkle they deserve. It is certainly because he still lives in Astaffort in the middle of his family that Francis Cabrel is the first ambassador of this Lot-et-Garonne where it is so pleasant to live. He initiated the "rencontres d'Astaffort" and the Voix du Sud association which organises them, and has thus created in this small village of the department a sort of pole of attraction for the music world. By transforming the old school into creative workshops, a whole village breathes culture throughout the year.
A theatrical sector that is a source of talent
Just by counting the number of existing theaters, one realizes the special place that this art has in Lot-et-Garonne. The Ducourneau theater in Agen, the Georges Leygues theater and the 13 winds theater in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, the Comoedia in Marmande or the Côté Cour theater in Mézin illustrate the dynamism of this discipline in Gascony where the art of diction is not to be proven anymore.
Historically, two cities or rather a city and a village embody the theater in the department. Agen and the theater of the day of Pierre Debauche, and Monclar with the baladins in Agenais of Roger Louret. The art of the stage is abundant and the theater of Lot-et-Garonne will never stop producing from the 1970s and the graduation of Roger Louret with a first prize from the Toulouse Conservatory. Over the years, countless performances have been given in Monclar, this village overlooking the Tolzac valley, and many actors who are now well known have walked the stage in this Lot-et-Garonne town. The local theater industry is a source of talent and will highlight the actress Muriel Robin from the Baladins en Agenais or its co-founder Nicolas Marie, who won a Cesar award for best actor, or Benoît Solès, the first artist to win a Molière award for author and actor for his play Turing's Machine. This same Pierre Debauche, disciple of Vitez, pioneer of the decentralization of the theater who remains an important character for the Lot-et-Garonne. Actor of the training - he directed in particular the center of dramatic art of Limoges and founded the theater of Amandiers in Nanterre - he created the Theater-school of Aquitaine within the Theater of the Day in Agen whose closing was unfortunately announced in May 2022. Among other things, he remains the image of an avant-garde builder.
Clowns also have their festival here with Mondoclowns in Marmande, which usually takes place in February. The whole world of clowning comes together to parade and perform against a background of eccentricity.
Conventional theater is also experienced through festivals that enliven the summer sometimes in magical places like Bonaguil whose castle serves as a magnificent setting during the festival. Michel Galabru, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Robert Hossein have played there among many other stars of the genre. The theater festival of Villeréal also marks the imprint of the stage in Lot-et-Garonne in a different version since the village does not have a theater. For a few weeks, the artists take over the village for a residency and turn it into an open-air theater with the participation of all the villagers. It could not be better described as out of the ordinary and innovative.
With the numerous amateur theater companies evolving throughout the territory, the theater really holds a special place in the Lot-et-Garonne. With its charismatic representatives Roger Louret and Pierre Debauche, the 6th art of Lot-et-Garonne continues to perpetuate its influence in the artistic world.
Theatre also in the street
Theater is also lived outside the usual stages, and in particular in the street. Moreover, to speak simply of theater would be reductive since it is the street arts as a whole that express themselves during the summer period. During the summer, there are a good number of performances and strolls in the events that take place during the promotion of the various historical heritages scattered throughout the territory. Moreover, Miramont-de-Guyenne and its region lend themselves admirably to this game. The bastide has seen the birth of the Bastid'art festival, which has since become a travelling one, and continues to host a summer event bringing together clowns, jugglers, acrobats, musicians, actors... In short, all forms of theatrical performance are to be found here and the public comes in large numbers to applaud, laugh, sing and even participate alongside confirmed artists or those in the making. These festivals are (re)known to be talent scouts.
Silence on tour... in the 47
André Téchiné (for the cult film "Les roseaux sauvages"), Stéphane Brizé, Cédric Kahn, Jacques Perrin, Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Lindon, and also Josée Dayan for an episode of the popular series "Capitaine Marleau" with Corinne Masiero... so many prestigious names that have trodden the lands of the department, whose geographical diversity is a formidable breeding ground for film. Short and feature films, documentaries, TV dramas, and web series galore: Lot-et-Garonne has seized on this dynamism and the nomination of Stéphane Brizé's "En guerre" for the 2019 Cannes Film Festival has put the spotlight on the department and its inhabitants. It seems that Lot-et-Garonne is also appreciated for its welcome by film professionals since the same Stéphane Brizé has again chosen the Lot-et-Garonne territory for the filming of "Un autre monde" (released in theaters in February 2022). On April 24, 2022, on the evening of the second round of the presidential election, the village of Laroque-Timbaud was the scene of an unprecedented experience: the fictional film "Jour de gloire" (Day of Glory) by Jeanne Frenkel and Cosme Castro was filmed and broadcast live on Arte. tv and in several movie theaters in the region. A technical challenge worthy of the artistic ambitions of the Lot-et-Garonne. Scenes from the film "Le règne animal" (2023) with Romain Duris and Adèle Exarchopoulos were shot in Temple-sur-Lot and its beach, while Christophe Duthuron, known for directing "Les vieux fourneaux" (The Old Furnaces), chose Marmande for his next feature film.
