Guieldu at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient

Breizh

Looking back on our first concert at the FIL, one of the great gatherings of Celtic music and culture.

For those read­ing us from out­side Asturias, it is worth explain­ing what the Fes­ti­val Inter­cel­tique de Lori­ent means to us. Each August, Lori­ent, in Brit­tany, brings togeth­er musi­cians and cul­tur­al tra­di­tions from the dif­fer­ent regions that the fes­ti­val con­sid­ers part of the con­tem­po­rary Celtic world.

What makes the fes­ti­val so inter­est­ing is that it does not seek to make these tra­di­tions one and the same, but rather to give them a place to meet, lis­ten to one anoth­er and share the same stage. This exchange can also be heard in the music itself. Over the years, melodies and styles have trav­elled between dif­fer­ent tra­di­tions, find­ing their way into the reper­toires of musi­cians from oth­er regions, who con­tin­u­al­ly bor­row, adapt and rein­ter­pret the music of elsewhere.

For Guiel­du, com­ing from Asturias and tak­ing part in this ongo­ing musi­cal exchange is a nat­ur­al exten­sion of the way we under­stand con­tem­po­rary Celtic music.

On Sun­day 3 August, we took to the stage at the Place des Pays Celtes. It was our first time per­form­ing in Lori­ent, and we cer­tain­ly felt the excite­ment. From the very first notes, the audi­ence respond­ed with remark­able ener­gy and enthu­si­asm, turn­ing the con­cert into a very spe­cial expe­ri­ence for us.

Unlike some of the bands in the pro­gramme, who per­form sev­er­al times dur­ing the fes­ti­val, Guiel­du played just once in Lori­ent. One oppor­tu­ni­ty to share our music with the FIL audi­ence. Per­haps that made what hap­pened after­wards even more spe­cial: sev­er­al peo­ple came up to ask if we would be play­ing again on anoth­er day.

When peo­ple ask when you are com­ing back after hear­ing you for the first time, it is prob­a­bly one of the best signs a band can receive. And in Lori­ent, where musi­cians and audi­ences from across the Celtic world meet every year, that response meant a great deal to us.

Being part of the Fes­ti­val Inter­cel­tique pro­gramme also gave us the chance to expe­ri­ence the fes­ti­val from the oth­er side of the stage. Access to the dif­fer­ent events meant that, between our own com­mit­ments, we could enjoy the fes­ti­val as spec­ta­tors and share some of its atmos­phere along­side artists and groups from dif­fer­ent Celtic regions.

Our con­cert took place on the same day as the Grande Parade des Nations Celtes. We were able to watch the parade and then attend Hori­zons Cel­tiques, the festival’s major evening show at the Stade du Mous­toir. For once, we were sim­ply part of the audi­ence, enjoy­ing a spec­tac­u­lar meet­ing of Celtic music, dance and performance.

And that was where anoth­er unex­pect­ed moment became part of our Lori­ent memories.

Among the audi­ence were Alan Stiv­ell and his wife, Marie-José. For Guiel­du, meet­ing Stiv­ell in Lori­ent had a par­tic­u­lar sig­nif­i­cance. His music and his approach to Celtic cul­ture are part of our own musi­cal ref­er­ences. His work in renew­ing Bre­ton music and open­ing it up to new influ­ences has also been an impor­tant ref­er­ence for the way we under­stand con­tem­po­rary Celtic music.

We took a pho­to with him — not exact­ly the best pho­to we have ever tak­en, but that hard­ly mat­ters. It is one of those pic­tures we will keep for the rest of our lives: the mem­o­ry of meet­ing, as fel­low spec­ta­tors, one of our great musi­cal ref­er­ences in the heart of the Fes­ti­val Inter­cel­tique.

For Guiel­du, step­ping onto the stage at the Place des Pays Celtes also meant join­ing, for the first time as a band, a tra­di­tion that has been bring­ing Asturi­an music to Brit­tany for decades. Being there along­side oth­er Asturi­an musi­cians and projects made us feel part of some­thing that goes beyond a sin­gle con­cert: an Asturi­an pres­ence in Lori­ent that, year after year, helps strength­en the musi­cal and cul­tur­al links between Asturias and Brittany.

We do not know whether we will have the chance to return. But we cer­tain­ly hope we will.

We leave Lori­ent with the expe­ri­ence, the warmth of the audi­ence, the encoun­ters, the chance to expe­ri­ence the fes­ti­val as spec­ta­tors, that slight­ly imper­fect pho­to­graph with Alan Stiv­ell and, above all, our grat­i­tude to the FIL organ­is­ers for invit­ing us and for mak­ing us feel so welcome.

And we leave with one feel­ing that has stayed with us since that Sun­day: we left the audi­ence want­i­ng more.

We hope this is the begin­ning of a long relationship.

Nous repar­tons avec l’expérience, avec l’accueil chaleureux du pub­lic, avec les ren­con­tres, avec les moments vécus au fes­ti­val en tant que spec­ta­teurs, avec cette pho­to aux côtés d’Alan Stiv­ell et, surtout, avec notre grat­i­tude envers l’organisation du FIL pour nous avoir invités et pour l’accueil qui nous a été réservé.

Et avec une sen­sa­tion qui nous accom­pa­gne depuis ce dimanche : celle d’avoir lais­sé le pub­lic avec l’envie de nous revoir.

Espérons que ce né soit que le début d’une longue histoire.

Concert video and photos

© Fho­tos: Román Tabourel