The country music festival at Craponne-sur-Arzon may be small: it attracts around 35,000 spectators, but Country Rendezvous in the rather unexpected setting of the Haute Loire department in deepest Auvergne attracts the big names in country music from Nashville, Austin, other parts of the USA, France and other countries. Bluegrass, country, zydeco, all will be there from Friday July 27 to Sunday July 29th, 2012.
This year, against a stunning background of the mountains of the Velay and the Ardeche, in a natural amphitheater and surrounded by forests, expect to hear the music of the French band Erik Sitbon and the Ghost Band, which opens the festival, and then a whole host of names, the majority from the USA like The Steel Drivers, Two Tons of Steel, Whisky Myers, Ronnie Bowman and Bayoux Roux which closes the festival on Sunday. And on Saturday and Sunday, there are free concerts in Craponne itself.
Tickets are very reasonable, costing from 37 euros for a single evening to a 3-day pass of 67 euros.