COVID-19 has made this French town the new capital of electronic music in Europe

From Ibiza and Mykonos to Miami and LA, sunshine destinations like these have long been top of the list for electric music fans. But what about France’s upmarket town of Saint-Tropez?

Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an interesting effect on Saint-Tropez’ music scene, placing the resort in the French Riviera firmly on the maps of partygoers.

“This is the biggest season that I’ve had in recent years,” says Maxime Drouard from No Sleep agency, who has been working at Shellona beach club on Pampelonne beach in Ramatuelle.

“Culturally, Saint-Tropez is going through a very interesting moment because it has a musical offering that it never had in the past. It’s now positioning itself amongst the big places in the world.”

Drouard continues, “Normally there are a few meetings throughout the year and DJ’s would go to Miami or Barcelona. Now they add Saint-Tropez to their calendar because we have a proper offering with the beach clubs and on these days you get four or five international DJs playing at the same time.”

It’s what he calls a “big cultural evolution,” as people here weren’t used to this kind of music before.

Drouard was one of the first to bring big DJs to the town, and this year he has reaped the rewards. “With other places like Ibiza and Mykonos closing, people came here that we didn’t have before. Now in our parties, we see some familiar faces and Saint-Tropez has been added to their travel planning.”

Although, he admits that most people currently coming to Saint-Tropez are from Paris, or the rest of France, so mainly local tourism.

Katy Dartford www.euronews.com