The Crossroads Festival is an event that takes place in Roubaix, a city based in the North of France, and that has been showcasing the diversity of the music industry of the Hauts-de-France and its neighboring countries for nearly 10 years. This year, for its 8th edition, artists and professionals from the music industry will once again gather at a venue called the Condition Publique for three days of professional meetings and showcases from November 7th to 9th, 2023. Since the festival will take place in no less than 15 days, we are here to tell you more about its Professional Meetings during the day and concerts in the evening.
– “Crossroads Festival, a festival of music discoveries, from November 7th to November 9th”
Professional meetings with a focus on thematic issues of the local and overseas music industry.
One of the things we particularly appreciate with the Crossroads Festival is the attention given to the themes that punctuate each of the days of the Professional Meetings. This year, instead of emphasizing the local, national, and international & export aspects, the teams from the Brigade d’Intervention Culturelle and Haute Fidélité, the regional music center of the Hauts-de-France, have decided to offer a thematic journey instead.
November 7th will be dedicated to the theme of cultural rights and cultural diversity, addressing what cultural rights are and how diversity (sadly still) often correlates with marginalization. Artificial intelligence will also be discussed, a subject as hot of a topic as ecological matters, which will be extensively covered on November 8th during a day dedicated to French-speaking artists. The “Decarbonize Culture” report from the Shift Project will also be presented, along with opportunities outside the French metropolitan area. The last day, November 9th, will focus on an artistic journey, highlighting local support & development opportunities for artists based in Hauts-de-France, the issue of artistic independence and mental health, as well as a discussion with AFDAS about assistance and training possibilities.
And because Crossroads never does things lazily : the Band Meetings we participated in last year will take place again this year, providing a space for artists and industry professionals, to meet and discuss ; a space for networking and exchange for project leaders & entrepreneurs in the music industry will also be held during the three days at the Condition Publique.
Get to know more : We attended the European event that is the Crossroads Festival from the 7th to the 10th of September : here’s our festival report !
A lineup featuring local, national, and international talent: Crossroads’ secret recipe for showcasing emerging artists.
While last year’s lineup featured a strong presence of extreme music genres (including several punk and metal bands in the 2022 program), this year, it’s the aesthetics – and their sub-genres – of electronic music, rap, as well as pop and jazz that are being represented the most.
Among the thirty artists who will perform on the two stages of the Condition Publique – yes, in this venue, two stages face each other, greatly facilitating stage changes! – we find local, national, and international artists. Among the Hauts-de-France projects, we’ll see live pop songs from Daphné Swân and Bali Dou, as well as rap performances by Rethno and Alvin Chris. Our Belgian neighbors will get to showcase bands like Major Dubreucq and the jazz project Kau Trio. From the Parisian neighborhood this time, we’ll have the opportunity to see the duo Charlotte Fever – previously seen at the MaMA Music & Convention – and also the hip-hop act Awori. The Grand Est region is represented by Laventure and the post-punk group Pales, not to forget the Pays-de-la-Loire region with the group Michelle & les Garçons.
As every year, Crossroads also programs an act for the younger ones during the day: “Tu mues, tu meurs!(?)!” (with one of the musicians being Adam Carpels, co-producer and co-composer of Thérèse), will perform this year at the Théâtre Pierre de Roubaix on Thursday, November 8th.
We can’t wait to see you there!
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