Festival BAO - Bouche à Oreille

Jazz takes over the gardens of Sainte-Gemmes

Every year, on Pentecost weekend, the BAO Festival (Bouche à Oreille) transforms Sainte-Gemmes-sur-Loire into an open-air jazz village. Organized by the JazzMaine association, this festival offers a unique musical experience: concerts in private gardens, in the meadows of Pré Seigneur by the Loire, and at the Art-Image hall, creating an intimate and friendly atmosphere that makes the event unique.

An eclectic jazz program

The BAO Festival explores jazz in all its diversity: contemporary jazz, gypsy jazz, swing, improvised music, world music. The program, carefully curated by the JazzMaine association, mixes established artists and emerging talents from the French and international jazz scene. Concerts are held in various formats—duo, trio, quartet, big band—adapted to the intimacy of the gardens or the acoustics of the Art-Image hall.

Concerts in unusual venues

One of the particularities of the BAO Festival is its itinerant nature within Sainte-Gemmes-sur-Loire itself. Festival-goers move from garden to garden, discovering a new setting at each concert: flowery gardens, shaded courtyards, meadows by the Loire. This musical stroll creates a poetic journey through the town, where music blends with the beauty of the Loire landscapes. Some concerts are also held in Les Ponts-de-Cé, a neighboring town.

A festival rooted in the territory

The BAO Festival actively participates in the cultural life of the Angers metropolitan area. By offering quality jazz in a bucolic setting on the outskirts of Angers, it provides an original alternative to large urban festivals. The JazzMaine association, driven by jazz enthusiasts, works year-round to offer a demanding yet accessible program, true to the spirit of sharing and discovery that has animated the festival since its inception.