In August, Bruno Monflier will announce the presidency of the Fleurance Astronomy Festival during the 35th edition. Founder of the festival, he returns to the evolution of the event, his scientific commitment and his message for the future.
The 35th edition of the Fleurance Astronomy Festival will take place from Saturday August 2 to Friday August 8. A tribute will be paid to its president, Bruno Monflier, during the inauguration evening on Friday, August 1. The Gersois is at the origin of the festival, he surrounded himself with a college of renowned scientists to build it and make him evolve in his own way. Interview.
What highlights do you remember from these 35 years at the head of the Fleurance Astronomy Festival?
If I only quote one, it will be the very first evening that initiated the festival. It was in Lavardens in 1991. We had organized a pyrotechnics show for the Night of the Stars, based on a comic strip by Philippe Druillet called the Château de Pierres. The show was preceded by a conference by Hubert Reeves, introduced into this story by his former student and friend the astrophysicist Michel Cassé.
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With this festival I met a lot of astrophysicists, physicists, scientists, people always very open, very attentive. He came more than 500 different at the festival. They want to give, to share. But the meeting with Hubert Reeves, his simplicity, his kindness, his humility remains extraordinary for me. I would have liked him to be there until the end but life decided otherwise. This link he made between the universe and nature led us to make this connection with the marathon of transitions, and the activities between astronomy and biodiversity.
How did the festival evolve in terms of public and scientific content?
At the very beginning it was really the Festival of Ciel et de l’Espace, a real astronomy festival which little by little became a science festival. In terms of public, we tried from the start to reach the general public. This year we are going to reconnect with the simplest, free public observation evenings, which, until last year, were done on the Stars farm with an extraordinary device: the T620 telescope, and it was paying. Otherwise we see a rejuvenation of the public thanks to specific agreements with large Astro clubs and we gave the floor to young researchers with the new light wire. Content? The scientific level is more and more sharp with the different threads, the big workshops, etc. And it is much more open than before in the fields and materials addressed.
Is there a key message that you want to send to the public?
Climate change, exhaustion of resources, multiplication of conflicts … The future of man on his planet may never have been so uncertain and the role of science so necessary. Observe, understand, explain, doubt, question: in contrast to beliefs, opinions and “fake news” (col) carried in social networks, the scientific approach allows everyone to forge a personal opinion … It is on these strong ideas, that the festival was born and that he was able to develop.
There is no doubt that he will continue his journey and will comfort his place among the first scientific mediation organizations in Europe and thus contribute to the formation of free and informed citizens anxious to preserve the planet but also its beauty. In September, a new team will take the reins of the association. We wish him to continue the way under a good star.