Pejman Memarzadeh: Culture generates a wealth cascade, one euro invested generates four in the real economy!

In a heartfelt cry, but above all a call to reason. Today, with budget tensions, there is a tendency to cut cultural subsidies as if it were an unnecessary luxury. This is a complete misdiagnosis. If you cut this branch, you weaken the tree of territorial economy. I hope we change our perspective: well-nourished culture is not a cost but an investment, we are an opportunity for sustainable and desirable development!

You talk about concrete numbers. Does culture really weigh heavily on the economy?

It’s not me saying it, it’s Bercy! In 2023, culture contributed €108.8 billion to the national GDP, which is 2.5%, the performing arts €15.3 billion (before heritage, visual arts, advertising, or cinema which weigh billions) That’s colossal! For a festival like the Escapades Musicales, every euro of public subsidy generates between €3 and €4 in the real economy. When we buy food to feed the artists, we don’t go to Amazon; we go to the local bakery or supermarket. All artists or technicians are declared and participate in our social financing model. Culture, through territorial associations like the Escapades, nurtures life. That is the real trickle-down effect.

You manage your festival like a business, but without shareholders. Is that your strength?

Exactly. We are a general interest association. All our resources are entirely reinvested in the territory through salaries, contributions, and local consumption. We are obligated to be efficient because we have to pay everyone. This rigorous management should reassure elected officials: investing with us multiplies common wealth, both immaterial but also, which is often invisible, material.

What do you propose concretely to new mayors and intermunicipal presidents?

Transparency and contracts. I tell them: “Let’s set objectives.” I am ready to have a “grand oral” before and after each edition to be accountable. We need to move away from old patterns where culture, tourism, and communication work separately. By pooling our energies, we can achieve great things with strong synergies and therefore at a lower cost for the taxpayer.

The festival is ranked 23rd in classical music events in France. What is the ambition for 2030?

We want to become a “national lighthouse”. The goal is to integrate the “Top 14” of festivals! France is a cultural superpower, which makes it the top tourist destination in the world. If we stop looking after this identity, we will undergo a downgrade that will impact everything: from tourism to luxury or the great wines of Bordeaux.

You also talk about “proximity culture”. What do you bring to the residents of the Bassin beyond the numbers?