Quick history
The Printemps de Bourges was started in 1977 by Jean Christophe Dechico (director of the Maison de la Culture at the time),Alain Meilland (actor and singer) and Daniel Colling (music booking agent). The city of Bourges is still hosting this music festival when this article was written ( December 2004), even though a recurrent financial deficit spelled its doom many times.
Daniel Colling is now the Director the music festival Le Printemps de Bourges.
The music festival
Just a few well known musicians or comedians come the festival. The most interesting characteristic of the PdB are the new talents : many famous bands made their first major concerts in Bourges. It is not always tempting to see a band you never heard of, but the tickets are cheap and the artists are classified by genre on the program. You could be surprised.
The action happens in the city centre (most events are at walking distance from each other) for 4 to 7 days.
Free events :
Apart from the numerous food & clothes stalls, there are 3 or 4 open air stages where bands perform for free. You (and your band) can perform on one of the stages if you ask a few days (or hours...) in advance. This being said, you can understand the music being played on these stages can be quite varied, and sometimes eclectic.
The bars are hosting bands as well, even though most bars in Bourges are quite modest in size.
For more info on the current event, please check the official website.
Related web sites
[1] (http://www.printemps-bourges.com) Official site (in French)
[2] (http://encyclopedie.bourges.net/printempsdeb.htm) How it all started (in French)
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