Some festivals start with funding rounds, feasibility studies and a clear exit strategy.
Under Grange started with a group of friends turning forty and wanting to celebrate with music.
Which feels… about right, actually. 🎂🎶
Somewhere between “let’s book a few bands” and “we might need more toilets”, a proper festival emerged — one rooted firmly in the Manche countryside and driven by people who weren’t trying to build a brand, just something that made sense.
If you’ve ever wondered what happens when local creativity, stubborn optimism and rural Normandy collide, this is it.
From a Studio in Montpinchon to a Festival in a Field
At the heart of Under Grange is a meeting between Association 2049 and Studio La Grange.
Studio La Grange is a music production studio based in Montpinchon — a working studio, not a glossy showroom — the kind of place where music is actually made, argued over, reworked and played loud.
It sits squarely in the everyday geography of the south Manche: the same patchwork of villages, lanes and market towns that includes Coutances, Gavray, Cerisy-la-Salle and the surrounding countryside.
This matters, because Under Grange isn’t parachuted in. It grows out of the same local networks, friendships and creative cross-pollination that quietly shape cultural life here year-round.
Together with Association 2049 — which supports local artists, organises cultural events and works to widen access to culture — the idea of Under Grange took shape.
Not as a one-off party, but as something more deliberate.
Backed by a collective of committed, quietly activist citizens, the aim was clear from the start: promote culture, respect the environment, and actively include people with disabilities in the life of the event.
The First Under Grange Festival: 31 August 2024
The first edition of Under Grange Festival took place on 31 August 2024.
Seven bands were scheduled. Three stages were built. Nearly ten hours of live music were planned.
Ambitious? Yes.
Completely unrealistic? Surprisingly, no.
From 6 p.m. onwards, the site offered far more than concerts alone. There was screen printing, a photobooth, tattoos, a solidarity thrift store, organic cosmetics, CBD stands and even a mobile hairdressing setup.
A campsite was available free of charge, because accessibility here wasn’t just about stages and spaces — it was also about being able to afford to stay.
The whole thing felt less like a packaged event and more like a shared experiment.
And crucially: it worked.
The atmosphere was relaxed, curious and slightly chaotic in the best possible way — the kind of evening where you arrive for one band and leave with several new favourites and a vague plan to “come back tomorrow”, even though there is no tomorrow.
Big Values, Put Into Practice
Under Grange’s values weren’t decorative.
There was an ecological focus from the outset, with waste sorting, dry toilets and locally sourced products.
Inclusion was handled in the same practical way.
A percussion group and a clown troupe made up of people with disabilities opened the festival. Others were involved in organisation, setup and dismantling.
It wasn’t presented as extraordinary.
It was treated as normal.
Which, frankly, is exactly the point.
This approach suits the Manche well: understated, pragmatic, quietly progressive and more interested in doing the work than talking about it.
The Setting: An Organic Farm With Mud and Cows
The festival was held across three hectares of land loaned to the event by the organic farm La Prioudière — a working farm producing organic cheeses from the milk of its own cows.
This wasn’t countryside as scenery.
This was countryside with mud, animals, routines and limits.
Hosting a festival here required trust, cooperation and a willingness to work with what the land could handle.
Again, very on-brand for the Manche. 🌱
If you’re expecting manicured lawns and perfectly flat ground, this probably isn’t your festival. If you like your culture with a bit of reality underfoot, you’ll feel at home.
The Second Edition: August 2025 (Bigger, Broader, Wetter)
The second edition of Under Grange took place in August 2025 and was planned as a full weekend.
Concerts were scheduled for Friday and Saturday evenings, with family and children’s activities running throughout the day on Saturday.
The site was open and free on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a clown show, a puppet-making workshop and around a dozen exhibitors.
Two music stages were installed, including a main stage under a tent capable of holding over 1,000 people.
Seven bands per night. Concerts running from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.
As organiser Anthony Fouchard explained at the time, the Under Grange Festival isn’t just an event — it’s a manifesto. A plea for a free, accessible and inclusive culture, where every artist and every festival-goer can find their place.
When Reality (and the Weather) Intervened
Then came the rain.
Not a light drizzle. Not a dramatic thunderstorm. Just relentless, soaking, spirits-testing rain — the sort that seeps into everything and politely refuses to leave. 🌧️
Attendance dropped sharply.
To break even, the festival needed around 700 people.
Only about 500 made it.
The result was a deficit — not through mismanagement or excess, but through circumstances that anyone who’s lived here long enough knows all too well, but even in Normandy, this amount of rain on the last weekend of August was, well, excessive!
What Happened Next Says a Lot
This is usually the point where small festivals quietly disappear.
Instead, Association 2049 chose to be open about the situation.
A fundraising campaign was launched to help cover the deficit from the second edition and to give the festival a chance of continuing.
At the time of writing this blog, around 55% of the deficit has already been covered.
With further donations and the planned benefit concert, there’s real hope that a third edition in 2026 can happen.
What’s been most striking, though, is the response.
Artists, volunteers, locals and supporters have rallied — sharing links, buying tickets, talking about the festival and making it clear that this is something they don’t want to lose.
In a region where community still genuinely means something, that collective determination feels entirely in keeping.
✨ A Benefit Concert, and a Bit of Determination ✨
A benefit concert is being held on Saturday 7 March 2026, from 7 p.m. until 4 a.m., at the Triangle Room in Thèreval.
With a full line-up, a bar and restaurant on site, and accessible ticket prices, the aim is simple: raise the remaining funds and keep the possibility of 2026 alive.
Every ticket, every presence, every shared post genuinely helps.
To come is to show support. To dance is to resist. 💃🕺
Why This Feels Close to Home
Living here, Under Grange doesn’t feel like something happening “somewhere else”.
Studio La Grange in Montpinchon is minutes away. Cerisy-la-Salle — where our family doctor is based — is around a fifteen-minute drive from our gîte.
This is all part of the same everyday landscape.
For guests staying with us, events like Under Grange are one of the real advantages of this part of Normandy: you can support meaningful local culture without the stress of long drives, packed cities or late-night logistics.
You can take part, then return to quiet countryside, dark skies and a bed that isn’t vibrating at 3 a.m.
And if it rains? Well. At least you’re not packing a tent. 😄
Who This Festival (and This Part of Normandy) Suits
Under Grange will suit travellers who like their culture local, imperfect and real. If you enjoy independent music, community-led events, and places where values matter more than polish, you’ll likely find this festival — and the Manche more broadly — very much your thing.
This region suits people who are happy to trade glossy attractions for depth: food from nearby farms, music in unexpected places, conversations with locals, and experiences that feel earned rather than packaged.
Looking Ahead (With Fingers Crossed)
There may or may not be a third edition of Under Grange Festival in 2026.
That depends on whether the remaining deficit can be covered — and whether enough people decide that this kind of festival deserves to exist.
No hype. No guarantees.
Just a lot of people quietly trying to make it work.
Final Thoughts
Under Grange isn’t polished.
It’s muddy, weather-dependent, financially fragile and emotionally invested in ways large festivals rarely allow themselves to be.
But it’s also honest.
It reminds us that culture doesn’t only belong in big venues or safe, predictable formats.
Sometimes it belongs under a grange, on an organic farm, powered by community, conviction and very loud music.
And sometimes, that’s exactly where it should be. 🎶