|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 14, 2019 21:16:29 GMT
Okay, is that a sufficiently provocative title? First of all, the Fête de l'Humanité does not take place inside Paris. It takes place in Le Bourget, about 10 kilometres from Paris. Nevertheless, it is the biggest communist event in Europe (no way to compete with the Chinese) and frankly perhaps the biggest festival of any sort in Europe. In 2018, it attracted 800,000 people over three days.
Luckily, one does not have to be a communist to attend or else I would never be admitted. I suspect that no more than 15-20% of the people who attend are actual communists, although it is quite clear that perhaps 80% of the visitors have left wing political views, sometimes quite extreme. Frankly, a lot of people have no politics at all -- when you live in the northern suburbs of Paris, this is the main event of the year with concerts, entertainment and food and one would be a fool not to take advantage of it. I made a report about it maybe 9 or 10 years ago (did not find it while searching Anyport, but it is here somewhere), so it was time to go back and see how it is now.
It is quite more expensive than it used to be, which is why I have considered it and refrained from going over the past few years. It used to cost something like 10 and then 20 euros for all three days of the event. Now it is 40 euros for advance purchase on the internet (which is what I did) but 49 euros at the gate. This seemed a lot less communist to me considering the financial condition of many people, but with communist fortunes going lower and lower in recent years, I do understand how they could decide to set that price. Just imagine -- if 800,000 people pay 40 euros each, that makes 32,000,000 euros in French communist coffers. Nevertheless, I imagine that card carrying communists pay less -- maybe 20 euros -- in their local federations. And I also suppose that free tickets are given to certain needy people (but how many?). Then there are the buses arriving from everywhere in France (and some European countries), for which people also have to pay (I'm pretty sure.). So, okay, I think that they get at least 20 millions euros in revenue for this event, but I don't have the slightest idea how much it costs.
One thing that has changed since my last visit is that there are no longer free shuttles buses from the Le Bourget RER station. "20 minutes walk" is indicated on the website. And it is more of a 3rd world walk with crappy sidewalks, holes to avoid, gravel, dirt, dangerous road crossings -- a 20 minute walk in downtown Paris is pleasant. This was not pleasant at all. But I knew it ahead of time, so I put up with it. I was dripping with sweat by the time I arrived, since it was a warm day. "I should have taken pictures of this ordeal," I thought. "No problem, I'll take pictures tomorrow when I return for the main event."
Finally I arrived, went through the security lines, etc. Actually, the security guy told me as he frisked me, even though there were electronic gates like in an airport, that all they are really looking for is glass bottles. And there were a ton of those abandoned along the way.
When you go in, neophytes would be entitled to wonder "is this what I came to see?"
i.postimg.cc/rs6Q7cw7/Huma_2019_013.jpg i.postimg.cc/nhnwHHGJ/Huma_2019_016.jpg i.postimg.cc/B6Pmht4x/Huma_2019_017.jpg
i.postimg.cc/bvJCt35V/Huma_2019_018.jpg i.postimg.cc/pLkcrgsn/Huma_2019_019.jpg i.postimg.cc/TP4kqnMd/Huma_2019_031.jpg
A lot of people come for all three days, and there is a campground for them. Since it was the first day, people were just beginning to set up their stuff.
i.postimg.cc/j5h43fBn/Huma_2019_022.jpg
i.postimg.cc/DzkQ25Tb/Huma_2019_023.jpg
As you progress, it all becomes more interesting.
i.postimg.cc/x1byDhW2/Huma_2019_024.jpg
i.postimg.cc/tCctcpvk/Huma_2019_025.jpg
i.postimg.cc/VNqq5MfZ/Huma_2019_026.jpg
|
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Sept 15, 2019 0:34:20 GMT
I went to it once, many years ago. It was at the southern edge of Paris, near the Cité universitaire. With some alt-left unaffiliated friends. But more often in Italy, where the PCI was always less sectarian than the PCF, and it was a pleasant party with good food and wine (but not elaborate gastronomy). There is no way I'd do such a walk on the edges of town - though I often walk or cycle a lot more than 20 minutes) unless it were a significant protest or other event.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 15, 2019 1:48:43 GMT
Oh boy oh boy oh boy!!! This is already super interesting. Thanks for the introduction to everything. I take it from the OP that you are returning to your home every evening and not roughing it on the ole campground. Is the Pancho Villa pavilion the security entrance? From your description, that poor security guy must have had to pat down lots of sweaty people. Looking forward to more commie fun!  |
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 15, 2019 3:58:24 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 15, 2019 13:22:31 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 15, 2019 20:40:17 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 15, 2019 22:54:18 GMT
It may have had more of a buzz on Saturday, but going on Friday obviously means you were able to get more illuminating pictures.
After the OP and all you've shown, you'll understand my asking about where the money goes. Does all the entrance money go to the French Communist Party? I'm guessing that the various booths might keep the money for the group that has the booth. But the last picture makes me wonder if part of some booths proceedings are earmarked for various causes.
|
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Sept 15, 2019 23:38:37 GMT
I'd think most of the combattants against Franco in Spain would be dead by now.
|
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Sept 15, 2019 23:45:44 GMT
Kerouac, did you eat anything "international" I'd have to be with a couple of friends to eat a large lobster. The Kurds and of course the Syrians - as well as any Iranians - usually do splendid food, even the picnic variety.
|
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Sept 16, 2019 6:14:05 GMT
In these days of rampant populism and leaders like Trump, Bolsonero, Duterte and others, it's good to see that some leftish ideas still attract people, but seeing these slogans of "remaining on the path of the October Revolution of 1917" really makes me wonder if these people have not read a newspaper or any history in the past 7 decades.
As mentioned above, the French CP was always among the most Stalinist in Europe so I'm not surprised that they are still around, still flogging the same old stuff. But I find it hard to understand supporting Maduro, Ortega, Castro and other Latin American dictators just because they are supposedly on the left. hence the mojitos, I guess.
Anyway, I suppose many of the younger people who come will be there for the concerts are not particularly politicized. And I see from the pictures that many of those running the stands were also on the barricades in 1968.
|
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Sept 16, 2019 10:07:05 GMT
The French CP weren't particularly on the barricades in 1968; the 68ers thought them old-fashioned even then. For some reason la fête de l'Humanité has retained some kind of social importance; perhaps some posters could explain. I don't see much about the ongoing climate change movement...
|
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Sept 16, 2019 11:11:15 GMT
I just meant that they didn't look very young.
You are right, Lagatta. In 1968, the French CP, run by Marchais was not on the barricades. In fact, "Durant les événements de Mai 68, le PCF est d'abord hostile au mouvement étudiant : Marchais écrit dans L'Humanité du 3 mai un article intitulé « De faux révolutionnaires à démasquer », où il s'en prend par exemple à « l'anarchiste allemand Cohn-Bendit ».
En juin 1968, le PCF imprime une affiche en revendiquant d'avoir « été le seul, dès le début, à dénoncer publiquement les agissements, les provocations et les violences des groupes ultra-gauchistes, anarchistes, maoïstes, ou trotskystes, qui font le jeu de la réaction »63. En 1967, Les Éditions sociales publient un livre préfacé par Étienne Fajon, du correspondant de L'Humanité en Chine, Jean-Émile Vidal, qui se livre à une critique en règle de la révolution culturelle en cours. Elle est considérée comme un substitut au stalinisme : nouveau culte de la personnalité encore plus fort que le précédent, fanatisation politique et militarisation de groupes de jeunes dans le but de frapper des militants gênants pour Mao Zedong et Lin Biao, du Parti communiste chinois64. "
It was while looking this up that I learned the name of the current CP leader. They do not have a high profile any more. I heard one guy from the party on the radio the other day talking about next spring's municipal elections and he said they had been working closely with the mayor of Paris, who is in the Socialist Party.
|
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 16, 2019 11:46:31 GMT
Does all the entrance money go to the French Communist Party? The fête is actually operated by the newspaper l'Humanité, semi-official mouthpiece of the Communist party. It has fallen on hard times in the last 30 years, because its deficit used to be completely absorbed by the Kremlin. I don't know where the money goes these days. I'd think most of the combattants against Franco in Spain would be dead by now. Militant families of every persuasion carry such torches for generations. Kerouac, did you eat anything "international" I didn't eat anything. I drank one beer. I don't see much about the ongoing climate change movement... The ecology movement had one of the biggest tents. I didn't take a picture of it. In 1968, the French CP, run by Marchais was not on the barricades. In 1968, Waldeck Rochet was still general secretary of the Communist party, not Marchais. |
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 16, 2019 12:04:29 GMT
Since the crowds had not yet arrived, my photos give an impression that it was rather silent. Not at all.
|
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 16, 2019 12:36:20 GMT
It was time for people to gather at the Grande Scène at last. It is just one of about 4 official stages for new or traditional music, not counting all of the performances in the international village and the regional sections. The opening act was a Belgian rap group from Brussels called L'Or du Commun. I had never heard of them, but the vast majority of the crowd knew the lyrics to all of their songs. Belgian rap is amazingly different from French rap, so much so that even I can identify it immediately. During some of their songs, I was thinking "Hey, that sounds a lot like Roméo Elvis." When I looked up the group later on the internet, I saw that he had collaborated on a number of their videos. Next was Aya Nakamura, a new superstar in France. She was born in Bamako but grew up in the area, very close to where this event was taking place. She is now a huge star in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Francophone Africa, but she also reached #1 on the Dutch charts last year, the first French singer to do so since Edith Piaf in 1961. I am personally not a fan of her Afro/urban beat pop, but it was interesting to see her. She has some quite remarkable physical attributes, which ca be appreciated on the video below. The big star of the evening, though, was Eddy de Pretto, and this was the very last concert of his two and a half year tour. He is a scrawny singer from the suburbs who has never seen the inside of a gym, but he has an amazing deep voice that is sometimes compared to Jacques Brel. |
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Sept 16, 2019 14:36:02 GMT
Really nice pics, Kerouac!
|
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 16, 2019 14:37:35 GMT
I should say that that was the end of my report. I had actually planned to return on Saturday, but as the day passed, I did other things on Saturday, including some very strenuous book hauling to the charity truck in the neighbourhood. And frankly, even though I had a desire to see the Parc de la Courneuve overflowing with people (unlike Friday), the thought of the 20 minute walk both ways, the idea of seeing all of the same stands again albeit with a lot more people did not motivate me sufficiently.
There are 60 concerts available all through the Fête and some of the performers will become mega stars in the future. You just have to give them a chance. As for the political angle, it is always interesting, but even though I am not yet too old to change, the political agenda did not really excite me. The biggest issue at the moment was the governmental project to privatise the Paris airports authority. The communists and other left wing groups consider this to be total heresy, and there is an attempt to get enough signatures to have an official national referendum. I totally understand this point of view -- if the government were really selling the airport. But that is not the case as I understand it. They are just selling the management of the boutiques and things like that. The same immigration, customs, ATC and other officials will continue to work as before, and the French government remains the owner of the airport. So this combat appears to be just ideological and not about fundamental proprietary issues. Of course, I also always wonder who is qualified to vote about such an issue. I certainly am not.
|
|
|
|
Post by fumobici on Sept 16, 2019 17:50:19 GMT
As one of the site's token lefties, I'm enjoying this! Super job documenting it too.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 16, 2019 18:30:44 GMT
the governmental project to privatise the Paris airports authority. ... I totally understand this point of view -- if the government were really selling the airport. But that is not the case as I understand it. They are just selling the management of the boutiques and things like that. Thanks -- that answered one of my questions, which was what the Orly Airport tent represented. Great videos, as always from you, and the second one & the nighttime pictures make it clear that a three day festival with live music would be attractive to lots of people with no particular idealogical stance. I suspect that no more than 15-20% of the people who attend are actual communists, although it is quite clear that perhaps 80% of the visitors have left wing political views, sometimes quite extreme. Frankly, a lot of people have no politics at all -- when you live in the northern suburbs of Paris, this is the main event of the year with concerts, entertainment and food and one would be a fool not to take advantage of it. Even so, an event like this with tents offering a variety of information is surely an effective and fun way of exposing the public to interesting political outlooks and their histories. Hope you had fun!
|
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Sept 16, 2019 22:46:04 GMT
I'm much more familiar with le feste de l'Unità, as Umbria was very much a Communist region, but the PCI was a very different animal. By that time 1980s) it meant social democracy and relatively clean government with some red flags and partisan hymns. I think the Italians always had more sympathy for the Yugoslavs than the Muscovites. The leadership did support the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956, but several prominent intellectuals of "l'area comunista" left over that, as did rank-and-file workers.
There was of course good food, and as for the wine, in that region it was pretty much given away on May Day.
Speaking of "days" a Mexican fellow with two flags was dancing into a Latin-American grocery, that one Peruvian actually, to commemorate the Cry that launched the fight for Mexican independence.
|
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 17, 2019 3:16:05 GMT
And yet the Italian festival and Italian Communist party died.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 17, 2019 4:07:06 GMT
I thought there were still many local officials and mayors in Italy who were Communists. No?
|
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 17, 2019 4:38:33 GMT
The Italian communist party was dissolved in 1991, even before the collapse of the USSR. Of course that does not mean that its ideas have gone away. The former communists have spread themselves over a number of political parties, the principal one being the PDS, which has also disappeared (1998).
|
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Sept 17, 2019 8:52:30 GMT
Its current faint echo is called the Democratic Party, believe it or not. Obviously there are several other parties farther to the left, but most are small. Italian politics is generally a mess these days.
|
|
