Carhaix-Plouguer is a small town of 9,500 inhabitants in the heart of Brittany, France. Like all towns of its size, it has its own supermarkets, convenience stores and fast food outlets. However, unlike many other towns of its size, it also has a particularly dense transportation network with numerous roads, a conference and culture center covering more than 2,000 square meters and with a capacity for more than 3,000 people (for comparison, the famous ‘Olympia’ hall in Paris can hold a maximum of 2,824) and a nearby plain where numerous sporting and cultural events are hosted every year, with permanent facilities (car parks, warehouses, paved areas, etc.). The question arises as to why this small Breton town is so dynamic and seemingly ‘overequipped’. One of the most basic hypotheses is that it is the venue of the largest popular music festival in France, the ‘Vieilles Charrues’. Of course, this is not the only hypothesis for why the town flourishes. Carhaix-Plouguer seems to be a ‘key’ town in central Brittany. This area has a particularly low population density overall, which has led to a concentration of numerous economic activities in Carhaix-Plouguer.
The first hypothesis linking the presence of a major event to the economic dynamics of the region seems to align with the findings of academic studies, such as those by Mesones (2002) and Kammeier (2002), and what these authors call the ‘pulsar’ effect. Their work describes the pulsar effect as a logistical legacy produced by the presence of one or more events in an area…