A few months ago, an association was set up with the aim of supporting and certifying traditional festivals in French villages. The Left, which identified that the organisation had received support from Catholic billionaire Pierre-Edouard Stérin, launched a smear campaign against the project, claiming that it was a militant offensive by the far Right. Under pressure from the media, the festivals that had been awarded the label were asked to withdraw.
The ‘Les plus belles fêtes de France’ label (The Most Beautiful Festivals in France) was created in 2024 to select, reward, and promote the treasure trove of local festivals that have been enlivening French towns and countryside for generations, sometimes for centuries. Festivals supported by the label receive funding to help them run and enjoy increased visibility. These may be long-standing and well-known festivals, such as the Fêtes Johanniques, which have celebrated Joan of Arc’s victory over the English at Orléans every year for several centuries, or smaller, more intimate events centred around local specialities, such as the Fête du Piment d’Espelette in the Basque Country.
In July, the communist newspaper L’Humanité targeted the organisation, accusing it of being secretly funded by the conservative Catholic billionaire Pierre-Edouard Stérin, who has recently become a favoured target of the Left for his involvement in numerous cultural and educational projects and his proximity to the Rassemblement National (RN). Since then, panic has set in among the organisers of certified festivals, as the left-wing press is doing everything it can to suggest that they are being manipulated for the benefit of a far-right political project.
According to France Info, this is why the organisers of the Mushroom Fair, held every year in November in Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, on the edge of the Massif Central, decided to refuse the label after the media revelations. “It was our mistake not to ask for the statutes, not to go further to check. I’d rather have less budget for my fair but remain apolitical and free to think,” explains the fair’s president—as if the label had asked him to declare his political allegiance. A dozen festivals have already backed out, out of around 60 that had been awarded the label.
However, not all festivals are bowing to public pressure. For many of them, the label is a dream opportunity to make themselves known and to survive in a difficult context where the conditions for organising these popular celebrations are becoming increasingly difficult to meet. For example, the president of the Chestnut Fair, which takes place in the Cantal region in October, does not see what the problem is and intends to keep the label. “There is no evidence that Pierre-Edouard Stérin has any influence over decisions within the label. He has no decision-making power. He is merely a financial partner. I don’t see why we should change,” he explained to the press.
The association insists that there is no political agenda behind the label and that, on the contrary, it is those seeking to destabilise it who are playing politics. The association’s coordinator, Thomas Meslin, says he has been “the victim of a hostile media campaign” in the press for several days. “They are using misleading tactics and defamatory shortcuts to try to convince our members to leave us.” The target is an events agency, Studio 496, which manages part of the organisation of the association ‘Les plus belles fêtes de France,’ of which Stérin is a shareholder. Its president, Thibault Farrenq, is known for his right-wing commitments. For the association, there is no cause for alarm: Farrenq is nothing more than a service provider.
France Info claims that the “vast majority” of certified festivals are considering returning the label. Nothing surprising: everything has been done to achieve this, in what appears to be a well-orchestrated witch hunt. The Left is not so particular about independence and apoliticism when it comes to funding initiatives that fit its own ideological agenda.
