Charivari Jazz Festival

Charivari Jazz Festival: Bold Music in Vendômois

Since 2018, the Charivari Jazz Festival has been enriching the Vendômois region with free, bold, and experimental music. Supported by the association Figures Libres, this festival doesn't just program concerts: it creates a space for encounters between musicians, digital artists, and the public, at the crossroads of jazz, improvised music, hip-hop, and sound art.

A Festival in Residence at Le Rotor

The beating heart of Charivari is at Le Rotor, the Fabrique du Docteur Faton, an artistic and digital laboratory located in the attic of the Thoré-la-Rochette train station. For a week, artists in residence create new works, share their skills, and offer public workshops in digital instrument making, sound spatialization, and radio art.

Traveling Concerts in Vendômois

Concerts take place in several towns in Vendômois: Vendôme, Montoire-sur-le-Loir, Azé, Les Roches-l'Évêque, Meslay, and Thoré-la-Rochette. This itinerant nature is part of the festival's DNA, favoring unusual venues and human encounters over a fixed program. Charivari claims an "anti-program" where wandering and on-site encounters shape the week's surprises.

Improvisation, Hip-Hop, and Digital Art

Charivari's programming blends improvised music, hip-hop, musique concrète, experimental rock, and electronic movements. Recent editions have featured artists like Sacramento Knoxx, Zachary Land, Pierre Lambla, Thomas Boudé, bassist Emily Rogers, slam poet Dgiz, and DJ Junkazlou. The first week often takes the form of a small tour combining MCs, producers, and musicians, before shifting to more unconventional formats blending concerts and digital tinkering.

The "Fête à la bidouille" (Tinkering Festival)

A family highlight of the festival, the Fête à la bidouille offers a full day of sound and digital experimentation, accessible to all ages. Workshops on making instruments, exploring modular synthesizers, and participatory performances make this a fun and creative event.

A Festival Rooted in its Territory

By investing in rural towns in Vendômois, the Charivari Jazz Festival contributes to cultural decentralization and regional animation. It is part of the cultural event network in Loir-et-Cher alongside Les Rockomotives and the Festival de Vendôme, and contributes to the influence of the jazz and experimental scene in Centre-Val de Loire.