More seating around the grounds, a quiet area to hear music being played on the Grande Scéne, a Celtic theme to the Village du Monde area, a pub, an an App for for the food stalls, secret shoppers, security questions and weather issues.
The 41st Paléo press conference took place today at the Paléo grounds, here's a sneak preview of what to expect this year. Jonas Parson reports back from the conference.
Security, Food quality and Weather : “hot” topics for the Paléo Festival Press Conference
The 41st (40th+1, according to the new Paléo calendar) edition of the Paléo Festival will start tomorrow the 19th July 2016 and the weather is looking great for the next few days. Big stars, old legends and new discoveries will make the plaine de l'Asse vibrate to the sound of rock, pop and electro over the next six days.
The festival is sold out, but 1500 additional tickets will be put on sale each day at 09:00 on the Paléo website for latecomers. Daniel Rossellat addressed the frustration caused by the success of the Festival, saying “the ideal situation would be to sell every ticket save one”.
Security a big concern of the Festival
After the terrible events that have taken place over the past year in Europe, security was an especially hot topic for Daniel Rossellat. The festival works with security specialists (the person in charge of security has a thesis on security in public events), and they collaborate closely with other European festivals and the authorities to constantly evaluate the situation and risks for the festival and the people on site.
The H.E.S - SO installation at Paléo - more details here
Rossellat didn't go into the details of the security plans they have developed ("no point in showing the burglar where you've hidden the keys", as he said), but assured that appropriate measures were taken, with different scenarios and possibilities on standby depending on every possible situation.
The festival refuses to enforce mandatory bag searches at the entrance to the site. As Rossellat pointed out, this measure, while maybe reassuring a few people, is mostly put in place by venues who want to protect the cash-flow and stop people from bringing their own drinks. Systematic security checks would just make life hell for everyone, with little results, concluded the president of the festival.
The recent tragedies have obviously raised concerns, but there is no reason for the festival to be a target of any kind, and the weather stays a bigger concern for the security of the festival.
Over 1500 volunteers and 400 professionals (police, security agents, firemen) are involved in the security during the festival.
Cooling the grounds -ready for the fans.
A place to cool down!
Secret shoppers guarantee top quality on all the food stalls
Paléo takes a lot of pride in the exemplary quality of its food and drink stalls, and is happy to act as a model for other events and festivals. The festival strives to improve the quality of the welcome every year, and one of the tools put in place is a certain number of secret shoppers who scour the grounds and test all of the food stalls during the week. All the stalls are rated on a number of criteria such as the cost, cleanliness, quality and presentation, encouraging the stalls to continually improve on what they are offering.
Check out the stall (Te Bach) selling Welsh Cakes!
This year, the Paleo mobile app has a new feature dedicated to food and drinks, letting you find a stall depending on your tastes and your location on the grounds.
They have created three different categories to help people navigate through the extensive offer:
New stalls - chosen to complement the current range on offer
Top 20 - based on the evaluations of the secret shoppers over the past two years, and a way to encourage every stall to improve
Fresh and Local - showcasing a dozen stalls who sell local and seasonal products.
This year's Village du Monde- the part of the festival dedicated to World Music- focuses on Celtic culture, and you can expect a lot of hearty food in the stalls invited specially for the occasion, from haggis hamburgers to Welsh cakes and fish and chips. Two “pubs” have been set up, serving (stereo) typical Irish beer and cider in an authentic and lively setting.
On a more practical note, people living above l'Asse and planning on taking the train down to the festival will have to transit via buses between Genolier and l'Asse. Paléo encourages people to use public transport or car-sharing to get to the festival.
A new area to listen to the music from the main stage - at a comfortable distance