After 33 years of life with the village of Saint-Chartier, the festival is forced to change site following the sale of the castle to new owners. The new owner does not wish to host the event for completely justifiable reasons that we understand and respect.

 

For the Committee George Sand, the organizer of the “Meetings” for 33 years, the prime objective is to keep the identity of the festival which defines its uniqueness today: a festival where instrument-makers, musicians and dancers (amateur and professional), from the whole world, can meet and share their passion for traditional music and dance.

 

The Committee naturally tried first of all to stay in Saint-Chartier.  Regrettably, it quickly became apparent that naturally shaded space was not available to shade the show of instrument makers, around which everything revolves : the jam sessions, the Meetings, the animations, dances, concerts ... After several visits, a site caught the attention of the organizers : Le Château d’Ars.

Chateau d’Ars belongs to the city of La Châtre and is situated 8 km from Saint-Chartier. This « sandien » site offers a lot of potential : wooded park, castle, caretakers house, the gardens …

 

At the moment we can’t tell you any more about it.  All of the Festival Team is already at work defining the new set-up, which will welcome the instrument-makers, the dancers, the musicians and all the passionate followers of the “Meetings”.