The “Route du Rhum” which became the “Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe” celebrates in 2018, its 40th anniversary. On Sunday, November 4, in Saint-Malo (France), 124 skippers took part in this legendary transatlantic race. Over the last few years, this international sporting event which takes place every four years, developed an economic and a cultural part.
We would like to publish the complete program of the artistic part of this 40th Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe but the communication department of the Regional Council of Guadeloupe informed us that it could not send us this one because it was not still “confirmed”. It’s very unfortunate for the readers who asked us for it… However, for several days, when we listen to some local radio stations, we hear commercials in which some names of artists from Guadeloupe, Martinique and France are scheduled to perform on stage from Friday, November 9…
Kariculture.net was not invited to the press conference that took place recently at the Memorial ACTe to present this edition of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe. Certainly this is a sporting event but the whole cultural part is of interest to our magazine.
In the press kit of the event, we read: “(…) there will be two official villages: one on the port of Basse-Terre which will take place from November 9 to 18 and the other at the Memorial ACTe in Pointe-à-Pitre which will be held from November 9 to 25. There will also be a village in Pointe-à-Pitre which will be more institutional. Another village with the label of the Region Guadeloupe will be at the marina of Bas-du-Fort, with a rather educational nature, intended to receive the young audience”.
The Route du Rhum, vector of development for Guadeloupe ?
Created in 1978, the “Route du Rhum” celebrates its 40th anniversary. Some remember that during its first editions, the Guadeloupeans felt “excluded” from this transatlantic race that arrived at the marina in Pointe-à-Pitre. Some did not quite understand what this “Route du Rhum” generated for our island. For their part, some Martinicans were willing to host this race if we did not want it…
So, modifications were made during these last editions so that the Guadeloupean people appropriate this sporting event, the emphasis was placed on culture and economy. For example, the skippers were asked to sail round the island of Basse-Terre, a buoy was even put near the port of the county town and the best sailors who arrive in Pointe-à-Pitre win money. After their crossing, the participants were welcomed at La Darse by the whole population. A large craft village and an artistic podium were set up on the Place de la Victoire. Finally, Guadeloupean skippers started to participate in the race.
The “Route du Rhum” became the “Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe” because the Regional Council of Guadeloupe regards this international transatlantic race as a real vector of development for our territory. So the regional authority made a very important financial investment for the organization of the race in 2018 and 2022.
The Memorial ACTe, hotspot of the “Rhum”
This year, we hear that: “The village of MACTe will replace the large village that took place on the Place de la Victoire. We have a more convivial area and which can accommodate many more people, hence the decision to choose the MACTe site. We have all the pediment that will allow the public to attend the arrival of the race (…)”.
On Sunday, November 4, we went to the Memorial ACTe to see the facilities: the 12m x 10m stage on which the artists will perform as well as pontoons had already been set up; teams were finishing to erect the 75 tents that will house the 124 stands of the village. In addition, extension works of the sea front of La Darse were completed.
In the capital of Guadeloupe, Basse-Terre, about thirty tents were pitched for the craft village. The buoy representing a bottle of rum that skippers will sail round to the applause of the crowd was already placed in the sea…
It must be known that the two stages – set up at the Memorial ACTe in Pointe-à-Pitre and on the esplanade of the Port of Basse-Terre – will offer concerts every evening from Monday to Thursday, and Sunday, from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm and on Friday and Saturday from 7:00 pm to midnight. As for the exhibitors’ villages in both cities, they will open from Monday to Thursday, and on Sunday from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm; on Friday and Saturday, from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm.
