www.festival-interceltique.com

Record Numbers

800,000 visitors attended this year’s edition of the Lorient Interceltic Festival, representing a 20 - 25% increase on last year’s numbers. Attendance was up on all of the festival venues in the city centre : the Quai de la Bretagne, the Interceltic Market, the Pavillion of the Celtic Nations, the Book Quay and the Village Solidaire. The numbers of tickets sold was also up on previous years with 115,000 tickets sold for the various concerts and shows on offer this year.

The Celtic Nations Parade

The first weekend of the festival, over 4,500 dancers and musicians took to the streets of Lorient for the Celtic Nations Parade, watched by crowds of over 65,000 people. The parade was televised on the French national television station, France 3 and enjoyed 18.5% of  TV viewer ratings.

Sold out !

Numerous venues sold out over the 10 days of the festival.

Port de pêche : The Cranberries opening concert (9,000 tickets sold ) / Cotriade (traditional Breton meal) (1,260 tickets sold)

Moustoir Stadium : The Bagadou (Bagpipes) Championships and the Interceltic Nights Shows (45,000 tickets sold)

Concerts at the Grand Theatre : Pascal Jaouen’s fashion show  “Au fil des elements” (882 tickets sold) / « N’Diale » (961 tickets sold) / Breizh Balkanik (tickets sold) / Imoer, a Kevrenn Alré creation(968 tickets sold).

Palais des Congrès : Dan Ar Braz, concert pour celtes en devenir (700 tickets sold).

Espace Marine : Grande Nuit de la Bretagne with Alan Stivell (3,740 tickets sold) / Planète Celtique, a symphonic creation for the 2010 Lorient Interceltic Festival  (1,500 seated tickets sold).

La Nuit du Port de Pêche / An Dro the world

7,000 people gathered at the Avenue de la Perrière in Lorient and joined hands at midnight to dance the traditional Breton dance « An Dro ». The phenomenon was repeated all over the world with “An Dro” danced simultaneously in Alaska, Canada, Cuba, Scotland, Ireland, Reunion Island and New Zealand.

A Positive Future

This year’s festival was supported by numerous sponsors and partners : 60 private partners and 200 businesses, adhering to the K Club ( the Festival Enterprise Club). After several years of financial difficulty, this year’s positive financial outcome should ensure a healthy future for the Lorient Interceltic Festival.

On Sunday August 15th, over 3 .1 million viewers watched the transmission of one of the Interceltic Nights Shows on French national TV station, France 3. With 16.8% of TV viewer ratings, the programme ranked 2nd place in TV primetime ratings.

2011

Noël Couëdel (Festival President), Lisardo Lombardía (Festival Director) and the festival team : 11 fulltime staff and 940 volunteers  are looking forward to next year’s edition of the Lorient Interceltic Festival which will take place from August 5th to August 14th and is called  « Tous les accents de la Celtitude ! / All Celtic Accents », focussing on the Celtic diaspora.

PRESS CONTACT

Heymann Renoult Associées

Sarah Heymann, Emma Lingwood

International press : e.lingwood@heymann-renoult.com

www.heymann-renoult.com