CULTURAL OLYMPIAD

Alongside “les Arènes du Rock”, brought to you in partnership with Bridgestone, a FAIR PLAY area dedicated to meetings and introductions to Paralympic sports, will be set up during the festival, where members of disabled sports federations will share the values and practices of adapted sport with festival-goers.

Bruce Springsteen and his marathon concerts, James Brown and his legendary split, Queen, White Stripes, Van Halen and Phil Collins and their hits that have become anthems in every stadium in the world… Anyone who has ever been to an explosive concert knows that life on the big stage can be very similar to life in the big stadium. They trigger adrenaline rushes, sweat, tears, emotions and limitless commitment… It’s this infinite reflection that is highlighted in an exclusive photo exhibition created in collaboration with L’Équipe, inviting festival-goers to plunge into the heart of the parallel worlds of live music and sporting competition. Some are artists, others are athletes. Athletes often have the hearts of rockers or the chatter of rappers, while singers, guitarists, bassists and drummers like to proclaim that they are champions, my friend. They look at each other “in the mirror” through the lens of the photographers, and the countless similarities are revealed.
An exhibition produced in collaboration with Presse Sports, the photographic agency of the L’Équipe group, and Rock en Seine.

Photograph credits : Olivier Hoffschir

The Talks stage returns this year in the heart of the ACT! zone (Agir Créer Transmettre! = Act Create Transmit!) set up in partnership with Libération and L’Équipe. The programme will showcase the body through a unique dialogue between sportspeople and artists who will explore the links that unite them when everything seems to oppose them. These bodies are invited on stage, in a theatre or a stadium, embody a play or a match. They are drawn on canvas, sculpted since antiquity, immortalised in historical photographs. Each in their own field tells of beauty, grace and sweat. What are the limits of these bodies? How does sport influence the work of artists? Conversely, what role do music, literature and the performing arts play in the lives of sportspeople?

The speakers will include a host of athletes and artists, including Lola Lafon, Gabriella Papadakis, Michaël Jeremiasz, Pauline Ado…

All 2024 Talks will be interpreted in LSF (Langue des Signes Française = French Sign Language).

Each year, Rock en Seine improves its accessibility measures for people with disabilities. In 2024, the inclusion of everyone – festival-goers, artists, speakers and staff – will be at the heart of this year’s event. As a result, many initiatives will be put in place, including social break areas, an image-prompting service for visually impaired festival-goers and the loan of vibrating vests for the hearing impaired.

On Thursday 22 August, Gossip’s concert will be fully translated in LSF (Langue des Signes Française = French Sign Language) by the collective 10 doigts en cavale, while Thomas de Pourquery, performing on Friday 23 August, will welcome on stage for a few songs an inclusive choir made up of singers from the Radio France Choir and five amateur choirs made up of disabled residents and carers from nursing homes and specialized institutes (Association Simon de Cyrène, HOVIA Paris 16e, ISA 13, Villa du Parc, Le Cèdre Bleu).

As part of the Parcours Campus programme, which supports young professionals and young talents in the music industry, accessibility measures and awareness-raising on inclusion will be stepped up.