In the midst of the record-breaking heatwave that hit France in late June, I flew out to the south west of the country with a bag full of sun lotion and glitter. I had been invited to attend a music festival called Garorock, as a guest of Ryanair and Bergerac Airport.
The French music festival takes place from 27th – 30th June in Marmande, which is a short drive from Bergerac Airport. Garorock has been running for 23 years and started out with a couple of bands playing in someone’s backyard. Today, it’s one of the best music festivals in Europe – in my opinion, anyway. Before this trip, I’d never even heard of it!
It was four fantastic days filled with sunshine, glitter, great company, amazing music, dancing and lots of yummy French food and wine. I’ve been to a foreign music festival years ago (Benicassim), back before it was super popular with Brits, and Garorock also benefits from being relatively undiscovered by UK festival-goers (I’ll explain why that’s a good thing soon!) I really enjoyed the size, the people and the chance to discover some new French artists at Garorock. If you consider yourself a well-seasoned festival goer or even if you’ve never been to a festival in your life, Garorock should be on your bucket list!
10 reasons festival lovers should get Garorock tickets next summer
The line-up is eclectic
With a mixture of French artists and big international names like Sum 41, Marshmello and Macklemore, Garorock offers the chance to sing along to some of your favourite anthems and to hear foreign artists – some of which you’re bound to love. When I got home, I immediately downloaded stuff by Angèle (who is actually Belgian) and Big Flo & Oli.
Garorock was born as a French rock festival, but today electro and hip-hop take up most of the stage space. The artistic direction has evolved over the years and Garorock promotes musical diversity with four main stages.
It’s an environmentally responsible festival
Reusable cups are kind of a given at festivals these days, but Garorock takes the eco-friendly focus a step further, giving it its status as a Natura2000 zone. I’ve never been to a festival with no litter on the ground until this one! From food waste to public transport, every aspect of Garorock is designed for minimal environmental impact. There were over 250 recycling areas at Garorock this year.
Campers could even get a ‘Kartent’, a storm-proof cardboard tent that minimises waste because it can be remade into other cardboard products after use. As well as that, there were various stands – one of which was in collaboration with Kroenenburg – where you could swap your recycling for the chance to win a gift. Environmentally conscious travellers, this is the European music festival for you!
It’s easy to reach from the UK
We flew from Stansted Airport with Ryanair then got a transfer from Bergerac Dordogne Périgord Airport. The local airport is tiny, with just two luggage belts, which means you can zoom through and be at Garorock in no time. The festival also organises coaches from the airport, making it really easy to get there and back. Alternatively, you can hire a car and explore south west France during the day – Bordeaux (and ALL the wine) is only an hour and a half away! Marmande’s train station is on the Bordeaux-Toulouse line and is located right in the city center.
Check out car hire prices in France
The crowds are super chilled
Over 14,000 people descend upon the tiny town of Marmande for Garorock – that’s almost double the place’s population. Yet in the four nights I was there, I didn’t catch one whiff of trouble. No aggression, nobody being carted out by security, and nobody who had – ahem – really overindulged. I found the French crowds are much more chilled than those at UK festivals, which means Garorock is perfect for people who prefer a more laid-back atmosphere, or those who are nervous about their first ever festival experience. In fact, on the first night I noticed a lot of families sprawled out on the grass.
It’s small
The festival site for Garorock is 60 hectares and everything is close enough together that you don’t have a massive trek between stages, back to the campsite or to grab food. I exceeded my daily step target according to my phone (which I barely looked at, which is always a clear signal that I’m busy enjoying myself). But it didn’t take long to get anywhere!
Garorock helps the local community
The French festival donates part of its proceeds to local non-profit organisations and in 2018, they got the entire site back to its natural state in just 10 days.
For the third year running in 2019, they were also serving ‘Garoburgers’, where all of the burger and fries’ ingredients are produced in a 15km radius. All 6.5 tons of food eaten during 2018’s festival originated from Marmande’s agriculture. The festival may take over the town, but it pays its way!
There’s plenty of food and drink to choose from
There are 40 food stands at Garorock with enough variety for all types of diets. The menus are all in French (obviously), but it isn’t that hard to decipher. The Marmande area is famous for its tomatoes, so be sure to eat loads!
There were 18 bars this year. The Havana rum bar was my favourite; it had a DJ and everyone danced in the sand until the early hours, between acts on the main stages.
It’s cashless
All Garorock festival-goers get a wristband that serves as your wallet for the entire experience. You download the festival app and top up your wristband, then cash isn’t accepted anywhere inside the venue. It makes queues move a lot quicker, is safer and probably stops you spending more than you mean to. The app also has the line-up, a map and other useful info, which means you’ll always have it to hand and it avoids more waste in the form of programmes.
The campsite is all part of the fun
Like most music festivals in hot countries, the acts don’t hit the main stages until later in the day when the temperatures start to drop. Luckily, campers can get started at the morning campsite concerts. There are sports activities, music, stand-up stages and more. It beats yet another drunk bloke strumming along to Wanderwall in his muddy tent as the British rain pelts down, right?
If you’re more of a glamper than a camper, you can also book the ‘Sleep’em’all’ campsite which has tipis with kitchens, a cushioned lounge and extra facilities.
It’s reasonably priced
This year, day tickets to Garorock were just 50 euro. There was a rest area for anyone who didn’t choose to camp but couldn’t get back to wherever they came from once the music stopped. The full four day pass with camping was 170 euros. Kids go free under 10. Add a cheap Ryanair flight onto that cost, plus whatever you’ve loaded onto your wristband, and it’s not hard to stick to a budget.
You can buy tickets for Garorock directly on www.garorock.com and digitick.com; the Val de Garonne Tourisme Officer in Marmande, or on the websites Ticketmaster, Fnac and Festicket.
Imagine: you can get washed-out in the mud and rain at a UK festival, or jump on a flight to France and experience some of the world’s biggest acts under the summer sun. I know which one I’d rather! My advice is to go to Garorock soon, before everyone else finds out about it.
Have you ever been to a foreign music festival? Would you like to go Garorock? Leave me a comment and let me know if there are any other European music festivals I should check out!
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, I was a guest of Ryanair and Airport Bergerac. All views are my own.
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