The eleventh edition of the Natural Games, the largest festival of extreme sports and music in France ended at the beginning of July in Millau in Aveyron. Climbing, paragliding, slacklining, kayaking, mountain biking or paddle have amazed curious and connoisseurs under a blazing sun. On the music side, the public attended the comeback of MC Solaar, the show of Pfel & Greem (C2C), L'Entourloop and many others.
She was eagerly awaited. After a half-hearted 10th anniversary of the festival due to capricious weather, all eyes were riveted on the sky of Millau in Aveyron (12) for this eleventh edition of the Natural Games. And it can be said that it has not failed. It is free of any clouds and with a thermostat around 30 degrees that the largest outdoor sports and music festival took place from June 28 to July 1. Enough to satisfy festival-goers eager for emotions and thrills.
It is still in the spot of Millau, capital of outdoor sports, and close to the magnificent gorges of the Tarn that the festival has once again put its suitcases for four days of madness, mixing extreme sports and music.
Music side
As one of the few festivals of its kind to be free (except on Saturday nights), the Natural Games attract an ever-denser crowd when the sun goes down. The island of Maladrerie is gradually filling up with a flood of festival-goers from all over the region, from France and Navarre. If the regulars are the majority, the reputation of the event and its word-of-mouth does the rest. Small surprise this year: a payment by Cashless that continues to make the ears of the organizers whistle as its implementation was difficult. But are we going to complain when most festivals in France are paying?
It was under the hip-hop beat of Chill Bump that these eleventh Natural Games launched the musical hostilities. It is the microphone riveted to the lips, unrolling their flow, that the duo begins the evening. Just enough time to see the speed block and they are followed by the energetic Mat Bastard. He was not in terra incognita since the singer of Skip The Use had performed with his band on the festival many years ago when both were in their debut.
The second evening began with another duo, L'Entrourloop. It is under a hip-hop tinged with reggae sounds, brass and old voices and a catchy beat that these vinyl lovers have blown up the festival-goers of the Natural Games. They too were regulars at the festival and they too know how to handle the cake. Half of C2C, Pfel & Greem sent heavy, as they know how to do so well. Crossing powerful electronic music and soul voices, they made an already acquired audience dance.
The third evening, the only paid evening, accumulated headliners. If the cancellation at the last moment of Camo & Krooked upset the course of the evening, it took more to kill the enthusiasm of the festival-goers present. So it's after the block final and a more than warmed up audience (did he need it?) that Mc Solaar has made his entrance on the scene. And not just any entry since the one who gave his letters of nobility to rap was back after 10 years of absence. And it was in front of the Natural Games audience that the rapper/poet decided to give his first concert, interweaving the hits that made him famous and those of his new album Geopoetics. It is finally the electronic music of Jabberwocky that will close the festival under a shower of stars and cheers before the DJs "made in Natural Games", make the evening last, as every night, until late at night.
Sports
Yes because at the Natural Games, we do not only party and if some go to bed late, others get up at dawn (or almost) to practice their sport. And some of the biggest names in their categories were present at the festival.
For those who take their foot in seventh heaven, paragliders, the festival welcomed the Spaniards Raoul Rodriguez and Horacio Llorens, pioneers and inventors of many figures in freestyle paragliding. There was also the Frenchman Tim Alongi who is not to be outdone for loops and precision poses on the Tarn (by the way, some paragliders took the bath).
Half-aerial, half-terrestrial, the slackline and its cousin the highline have still been emulated. It is in the gorges of the Tarn, on the majestic site of Boffi that, perched at more than 300 meters high, Nathan Paulin (world record length at the Natural Games two years ago) and his friends officiated. With highlines more than 100 meters long, watched by vultures, they made the show in an almost religious silence despite festival-goers who came in large numbers to see them.
On the climbing side, and despite the absence of the best French in training with the federation, the bouldering and speed competition remains a great moment of the Natural Games. In front of an audience electrified by the evening, amateurs and professionals "pulled out their fingers" to get catches where ordinary mortals would see only a slight undulation of the wall.
If climbing remains the big event, mountain biking is just as eagerly awaited by festival-goers. It is on a park designed by the champion Jeremy Berthier, glued to the stage, that riders like Paul Couderc have "sent serious" in aerial contortions (strangely they all have a name) on the handlebars of their mounts and in front of the bright eyes of young and old.
Finally, kayaking (freestyle or boardercross), true to its reputation, was the common thread of the festival. Legends of this discipline were present like Marlène Devilliez or Quim Fontané who came to take the famous wave of Millau.
With bright sunshine, a musical program worthy of a big festival (while remaining almost free) and big names in extreme sports, the Natural Games maintain and expand their reputation as the largest sports and music festival in France.
And as a bonus, the report of the show Riding Zone present during the festival. It's a gift:
