"We have the ambition to make it a memorable moment": in Grimaud, Plage de Rock has sowed big seeds before its 20th anniversary

No more Rock Beach this Thursday at Prairies de la Mer. The curtain fell last week with Noga Erez, and it's time for the first assessment.

Undoubtedly, one of the highlights of the edition remains the performance of the Americans from Future Islands. "A super-generous concert from the first song, and artists who had a lot of fun on stage and at the Prairies during the day!", notes the Port-Grimaudoise team who took the risk of launching the season with two consecutive evenings (Wednesday and Thursday evenings) which ultimately "worked super well in terms of attendance" .

A second date that also rocked the organization... "We had a little scare the day before the J. Bernardt concert, who arrived from Belgium right in the middle of the fires in Marseille with the airport closed... He finally jumped in a van the day before the festival to do 1,000km and arrive on time!", recalls the master of the place, David Luftman.

Once again, the eclecticism of the lineup didn't dampen enthusiasm. Quite the opposite! "One only has to look at the enthusiastic response from the public, who welcomed artists with such diverse aesthetics, such as pop, rock, and hip-hop, with such warmth and curiosity," the programmers noted.

A 2026 edition hoped to be grandiose

Who would have imagined that this small indie rock festival, born from the flame of two passionate people, David and Alban, would one day blow out its twenty candles with the same fever? Yet it's a matter of rubbing one's eyes at the fact that discussions were already in full swing during the festival's "after-parties" to look ahead to 2026 and imagine a lineup so grandiose that it will further shake up the faithful who have been following the twists and turns of a unique free program in the Var for two decades.

"We need The Strokes!" , the most enthusiastic are already saying, without paying attention to financial realities and agenda priorities, convinced that the Americans will gather without any problem to come and shake their hair in Port-Grimaud.

Whatever XXL bands are coming up, the question of the stage also arises. The Long Bar stage is wonderfully warm, but if by chance some big names were invited to share the festive cake, the feasibility of organizing it on Prairies beach returns, as was the case in 2013 for the Amazing Live event, which featured Yuksek and Miles Kane.

A heavy organization in perspective, with requests for prior prefectural authorizations, which one does not necessarily imagine to be in line with the indie spirit of an event that wants to keep proximity as its primary value. "We have the ambition to make it a memorable moment, a bridge between our magnificent experiences of these last 20 years and the desire we have to discover lots of beautiful things" , concludes David Luftman while maintaining the suspense.