The Francofolies de Spa make Europe dance
The members of the Competitiveness and Growth Working Group of the Council of the European Union were invited to discover the Francofolies de Spa. A beautiful example of the modernisation of the European cultural industry.
Last Thursday, 22 July, the Wallonia-Brussels Delegation to Europe had the pleasure of presenting the Francofolies de Spa to its special guests. The Delegate, Thierry Delaval, stressed the specific French-speaking nature of the music festival and the importance of promoting the French language and French-speaking culture in the European space.
This was also an opportunity to raise the awareness of the member and acceding countries to the use of French in work and negotiations at European level. In this same spirit, Thierry Delaval noted that the International Organisation of la Francophonie (OIF) finances language training for thousands of diplomats, dozens of journalists and even several European Commissioners working in Brussels.
The members of the group who attended were able to appreciate the pleasant, relaxed style of a smoothly running organisation, with committed artists, but also a very special way of enhancing European French-speaking culture.
Gergo Tardos, a Hungarian member of the group of guests, shares his impressions on the festival and on la Francophonie:
“I appreciated the very lively aspect of the Francofolies a great deal. It was an opportunity to make contacts within a framework that was less formal than usual. Basically, I’m familiar above all with the French electro jazz scene, with artists like Laurent Garnier and Saint Germain. Obviously, in that musical genre the words don’t play a major role! Now I am finding out about the commercial music business with concerts by Christophe and Jacques Dutronc. I don’t yet understand everything, but the atmosphere was there. Now I hope to be able to improve my French further. For the moment I am following courses organised in Brussels by the Alliance Française…”
“In Hungary, French was strongly established until after the Second World War. Then it was English that dominated. All the same the French-speaking world is still very much in evidence, if only through the importance of the culture and the large numbers of Hungarians who learn the language.”
