Striking arts workers forced the last-minute cancellation of a chamber music concert last night at the Pablo Casals Festival at Prades in the French Pyrenees, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
The disruption was the latest in a series of actions by the intermittents du spectacle — unionized performers and backstage personnel who are engaged for limited terms on a project-to-project basis rather than as permanent, salaried employees of an institution — protesting changes to their unemployment compensation plan mandated by the French government. The increasingly bitter labor dispute has plagued arts festivals all over France this summer, forcing the cancellation of such renowned events as the opera festival at Aix-en-Provence, the theater festival at Avignon and Radio-France's music festival in Montpellier.
A group of about 30 intermittents sat down in front of the main door to the church in Prades where the concert was to be held, attempting to block the audience from entering, according to the AFP report. After most of the audience went in by another door, the protesters threatened to disrupt the performance if it took place, forcing festival director Michel Lethiec to cancel the program just as it was about to begin.
Lethiec's announcement of the cancellation infuriated the audience. As they left the venue, attendees shouted insults at the intermittents, who reportedly had to wait in backstage areas for over half an hour before being able to leave the area in safety.
The Prades festival, which was founded in 1950 by Casals himself, does not employ any intermittents and organizers had hoped it would proceed without any disturbances, according to AFP. It opened (without incident) on Saturday 26 July and is scheduled to run through 13 August.
— Matthew Westphal
"Des intermittents empêchent un concert du Festival Pablo Casals de Prades"
Agence France-Presse (via Yahoo France) - 30 July 2003
"Festival Pablo Casals de Prades: hommage au maître 30 ans après sa mort"
Agence France-Presse (via Yahoo France) - 26 July 2003
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