Austin's sister city in France--Angers--is in high-intensity mode for their big city-wide art and culture festival--les Accroche-coeurs--which attracts some 100,000 people. It will be held September 6-8. Stay up to date here, on their Facebook page.
"Cultural arts" festival does not really describe what makes the festival so special: it's really all about the high level of civic involvement. As my angevins friends were describing it to me this summer when I was in Angers, it is a tremendous community-building festival, with residents of Angers providing the entertainment: performing in plays, for example, both silly and serious, just to name one of many art forms going on everywhere alone the Maine River. I am sorry to miss it, but Austin will be well represented anyway. Because of St. Edward's University's campus over there at l'Université Catholique de l'Ouest ("le cato" or "OCU" as they say over there), some Austin students will be on hand to help with, yes, taco prep for the Austin food stands. The theme for this year's festival is "the West" so they are featuring their sister city of Austin, Texas among the many other food booths. More on that below.
Checking out the line-up of events gives one some idea of the scope of the festival and how it will be pretty much taking over life in Angers for this coming weekend. There is dancing in the streets, literally, and "déambulations" - sort of like public art/performance art ambulating around town, and--in tribute to the sister-city connections and how much our Angers friends in high places throughout the creative industries in Angers have already explored Austin--a film festival. Part of the festival offerings includes Robert Rodriguez's "Planète Terreur" (Planet Terror) paired up with Tarantino's "Boulevard de la Mort," perhaps better known as the very Austin-themed "Death Proof." (See IMDB: "In Austin, Texas, the girlfriends Julia, Arlene and Shanna meet in a bar to drink, smoke and make out with their boyfriends before traveling alone to Lake LBJ to spend the weekend together.")
Those films will be showing at the great little theatre on the rue Claveau - Les 400 Coups (named for of course that classic black & white Truffaut film - "les quatre cents coups").
Taco prep in Angers, France
I met the energetic, very well-organized leaders of the Office de Coopération Internationale d'Angers, when I was in Angers in June, as part of my serving as impromptu ad hoc consultant on the Austin food booth. But they are already very well-informed. Our Angers friends have been to Austin many times and have documented Austin life very well for bringing a little bit of it to Angers for Les Accroche-coeurs. [My Angers friends love Barley Swine and Second, by the way.]
At first they were thinking about some Shiner Bock or some Real Ale to have as their beverage for the Austin booth's offerings. So I brought over a couple of bottles to France this summer for them to check out. Alas, distribution hurdles got in the way, and no can do either one of those at the Austin booth for les Accroche-coeurs.
The planning for the food booths is nothing short of impressive. I am receiving updates along with the rest of the committee members. The documents are gorgeous--in terms of layout and format. They are detailed with great precision with clearly-defined goals, assignments, equipment lists, shopping lists, and timing for shopping, staging, etc. Those French. They do good work. Seriously.
But what I really love in the most recent missive I received as part of this intense organizational effort: a short power point slide show/quiz on food safety, done up in a very fun way, but making it very clear that food safety and food safety rules are very important. (E.g., the correct temperatures for food at all times, hand-washing, etc.)
What the residents of Angers will think of Austin and our food ... it's all up to our very pro-Austin friends in Angers. Bon courage my friends. I will be thinking of you this weekend while I am in Louisiana, post-Cleanse, enjoying some red wine, at long last (in great moderation) and my beloved Poilâne bread from Paris (in maybe not so much moderation).
Not a photo of anything that has to do with Les Accroche-coeurs but yes has something to do with Angers: part of the masive Saturday market that takes over several streets.
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