A shaman, a singer, a dancer, horn players and percussionists invite the audience to take part in a pagan celebration shaped by rock’n’roll roots, the Occitan language and organic sounds. On stage, eleven characters bring to life a visionary, carnivalesque universe, creating a collective ritual that seems to rise directly from the earth. La Vespa is more than a concert: it is a ceremony, a tribute to celebration and to ancestral, pagan and shamanic rites that evoke the overwhelming force of carnival.

The texts and music, composed by Jérémy Couraut, are entirely at the service of this ritual shared between musicians and audience. Songs and rhythms create a festive, playful atmosphere, while the shaman and the dancer lead farandoles and invite participants to surrender to trance. It is an earthy, unconventional carnival, both caricatural and Dionysian, celebrating the rebirth of nature and vital energy. The texts alternate between French and Occitan: French allows for more immediate understanding, while Occitan opens the door to a more imaginative and visionary dimension.

The “wasp” is the group’s totem animal: whoever is stung falls into a trance-like state and can free themselves from the venom of its sting only through dance. The music of this ritual also draws on ancient and popular references: from old Occitan music to the horn games of the Pygmies, built on the tension of a few repeated notes, and even old French nursery rhymes.

A central element of the company’s identity is the Occitan calabash, or cougourdon, a fruit that has been used since ancient times in many cultures around the world as a utensil, a ritual object, a healing tool, or a musical resonating body. For the Vespa Cougourdon Ourchestra, this natural element has become a true guiding thread. All the calabashes used on stage are grown by farmer-luthier-musician Jérôme Désigaud, who transforms the fruits of his harvest into unique and original musical instruments inspired by the tradition of the Nice Carnival.

National premiere.