The Pamparina music festival at its best
The city of Thiers celebrated for three days
Since its creation in 1998, the Pamparina music festival’s leitmotif has remained the same: making this celebration intergenerational and accessible to everyone (all of this three-day festival’s events are free). Every July since its creation Pamparina has reunited musicians, the people of Thiers and visitors. This year Pamparina solidified its status as a major summer event.
Pamparina continues to attract visitors with its eclectic program, oscillating between several different music genres: world, electronic, rock, classic and jazz. Each year an average of approximately 25,000 individuals gather in Thiers for this special musical moment, which is always filled with sharing and discovery.
3 days of concerts and celebrations
The Pamparina music festival took place July 8 – 10, 2016. Yet again, the festival offered a dazzling list of reputable musicians and quality-programed events. This year’s celebration was skilfully organized by the city of Thiers with the help of several local associations and long-standing partners. This was the festival’s 19th year in existence and this year the organizers kept their promise of presenting an exceptional program of celebration.
The celebrations began Friday with several street processions that meandered through the streets of downtown Thiers to the rhythms of the 100% female fanfare, Zalindé. Groups of young musicians from Clermont played concerts in Saint-Genès while the famous duo from Mali, Amadou et Mariam, enchanted those gathered in the Chastel Square with their warm and joyful ambiance.
Around noon on Saturday the very first notes of music resonated throughout Thiers. A large choir of 60 individuals, the Coopérative de mai, covered well-known songs, enthralling spectators with their voices and their two instrumentalists. They filled the Clermont music hall with hours of rich music.
Several concerts took place in Chastel Square including: Hollie Cook (daughter of the renowned drummer from the Sex Pistols), Yatie Ramos - daughter of Jesus Ramos and the musical director of the famous Buena Vista Social Club capped off the evening with a fabulous Cuban and reggae fusion concert, which created a beautiful ambiance.
Sunday’s concerts ended the festival quite beautifully with the super energetic Electropop group, Hyphen Hyphen, who was recently awarded at the Victoires de la Musique and a concert by the singer Flavia Coelho. The 2016 Pemparina music festival was a great success and is sure to have left a positive impression, leaving those who attended swaying between joy, optimism and celebration!
The city of Thiers is in the spotlight
A summary of the Pamparina music festival
The Pamparina music festival is a major summer event in the Auvergne region and an important cultural pillar in the Thiers municipality. The numbers speak for themselves: 50 different musical groups performed approximately one hundred concerts.
The festival’s organizers invited renowned musicians from around the world to play on the stage located in Chastel Square in order to make culture accessible to everyone. The organizers’ goal was also to support local musicians by helping new talented individuals from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region through exceptional advertising and a chance to play on stage at Saint-Genès and Conchette Street. It should be noted that the stage called “Voix du Mode” changed locations this year and was erected in Verdun Square.
The Pamparina festival provided a great chance for countless visitors to discover the multi-facetted city of Thiers located in the Puy-de-Dôme department.
Countless visits
The festivalgoers were also able to enjoy their stay in Thiers while admiring this city’s character and picturesque medieval charm.
Numerous well-known attractions that showcase Thiers’ heritage (which is intimately connected to the knife manufacturing domain) enjoyed a high volume of visitors. The following lists some of Thiers’ famous attractions:
- The Cutlery Museum: featuring year-long temporary and permanent exhibits.
- The Cutler City: offers visitors a voyage back in time, giving a glimpse at several centuries of Thiers’ cutlery history up to modern times and including information about the biggest names in contemporary French-made cutlery.
- The valley, which is the cutlery cradle of Thiers and includes Cutlery Wheels and Factories.
After the successful sporting event, the "13 km thiernois," which took place recently; Thiers has enjoyed another dynamic and beautiful weekend!