Jazz in Marciac
Once a year the French village of Marciac gets shaken to it's medieval stones. For two weeks every August this little twelfth century Bastide lifts its dusty eyes, slaps on a smile and welcomes, genuinely welcomes, ten thousand people every day.
They come for the jazz. Bizarrely, over thirty years ago a sleepy and inconsequential spot in south west France started a music festival which now features on the international scene for all jazz musicians and their devotees. How can a village of no more than one thousand people play host to ten times that number every day for two weeks and never get overwhelmed? Always a seat at one of the many restaurants that spring up, always a chair in the square to listen to the free jazz and sip a beer, always a space to park the car in the fields that open up on the edges of the village (and always for free).
And the stars that turn up - Joe Cocker, Jamie Cullen, Taj Mahal, Blind Boys of Alabama who play sell out performances in the marquee.
Whether you're a lover of jazz or not, this is a fabulous place to be if only for a day or two. Laid back, no trouble or mess, music playing from morning to night and more bars and restaurants than you could possibly visit in two weeks.
The only consideration is where to stay. Local people open their houses and take B&B guests just for those two weeks but all hotels and Chambres d'Hotes are booked up way in advance. If you don't get booked in somewhere, bring a tent as they'll always squeeze an extra one onto the camp site down by the lake.
Where to eat? Anywhere is good but if you're a real meat eater, sidle down the passageway next to the butchers and eat with the locals in a courtyard - ask for an entrecote and take your time over it!
They come for the jazz. Bizarrely, over thirty years ago a sleepy and inconsequential spot in south west France started a music festival which now features on the international scene for all jazz musicians and their devotees. How can a village of no more than one thousand people play host to ten times that number every day for two weeks and never get overwhelmed? Always a seat at one of the many restaurants that spring up, always a chair in the square to listen to the free jazz and sip a beer, always a space to park the car in the fields that open up on the edges of the village (and always for free).
And the stars that turn up - Joe Cocker, Jamie Cullen, Taj Mahal, Blind Boys of Alabama who play sell out performances in the marquee.
Whether you're a lover of jazz or not, this is a fabulous place to be if only for a day or two. Laid back, no trouble or mess, music playing from morning to night and more bars and restaurants than you could possibly visit in two weeks.
The only consideration is where to stay. Local people open their houses and take B&B guests just for those two weeks but all hotels and Chambres d'Hotes are booked up way in advance. If you don't get booked in somewhere, bring a tent as they'll always squeeze an extra one onto the camp site down by the lake.
Where to eat? Anywhere is good but if you're a real meat eater, sidle down the passageway next to the butchers and eat with the locals in a courtyard - ask for an entrecote and take your time over it!
posted by Fran Nustedt at
5:27 AM
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