The challenge, however, is daunting. Florent Bénéteau concedes, “people’s habits have changed, they don’t travel as easily as before for lesser-known artists”. It is therefore in this sense that the Florida will welcome, on October 29, Big Flo & Oli, for an already sold-out concert. Another major event, the holding of the French beatbox championship, on November 25 and 26, which returns after two years of absence. But there’s no question of Florida forgetting its DNA: “Our programming aims to strike a balance between local and international artists. Thus, the place will welcome the Agen rapper Hic Svnt Dracones, his Toulouse colleague Furax Barborassa, as well as the pioneer of French techno Arnaud Rebotini, as well as the Togolese metal group Arka’n Asrafokor.
The start of the new school year also marks the return, several times a month, of afterworks and aperitifs. Events which are for Florent Bénéteau “an opportunity to reconnect with the population, to participate in the social bond that we defend”. The Florida also wants to maintain its reputation as a laboratory and musical experimentation. Thus, the Grand Challenge will make its big comeback at the beginning of October: some forty musicians will form, after a draw, 10 groups whose members will be drawn randomly. The opportunity to mix styles and, in December, to present their musical creation around the theme “Esotericism and fairground”.