A little piece of Portugal opens its store on Sunday at 9am in Creteil. The Radio Alpha concert is the unmissable event of the Portuguese-speaking world in Val-de-Marne. But this year, it's a celebration like no other.
Firstly because the guest star is Tony Carrera, the Portuguese Johnny Hallyday. The ladies' darling returns to the island theme park. “He started by helping the radio and has not forgotten it,” says Fernando Lopez, director of Radio Alpha. In 2014, nearly 20,000 people came to cheer him on. Emotions guaranteed.
Then because it is the place to discover all the culinary specialties of Fado country. From the finest pastes de nata to suckling pig roasted on the on-site grill.
Finally, (and perhaps above all), because Radio Alpha is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The adventure was started by dozens of former members of a Portuguese pirate radio station and the French radio station Eglantine. “Over the course of two years, we compiled the file to make sure we got the broadcasting license,” recalls Fernando Silva, one of the radio’s pioneers and technical director. We shared the frequency with African Radio Tabala FM from five in the morning to five in the evening. »
Indeed, the format was intended to be 'professional' with live broadcast, information, entertainment, music or football. “But we weren't planning,” Fernando Silva continues. We just wanted to inform the Portuguese who live in France and do it well, in impeccable Portuguese. »
Two years after its first broadcast, Radio Alpha organized a small concert in a schoolyard in Ivry-sur-Seine. “For Saint-Jean, we wanted to celebrate popular saints (First name of party editor's note). We were overwhelmed. Thousands of people came. It was crazy. »
First Radio Alpha concert in 1995 with the group Xutos e Pontapès. doctor
At that time, the community of more than 80,000 people “needed to find its mother tongue but also to express itself on the air.” The voice of Portugal in France, Radio Alpha will remain so. Public radio has moved throughout its history from Paris to Ivry and Valentin. It is owned by businessman Armand Lopez. Every week, 450,000 listeners listen to 98.6 FM.
“Thirty years is a change in the audience,” says the director. At that time, it was obtained immediately. Today, Portugal can be seen through television, the web and satellite. We must come up with something new and open up to the trade union world. »
The challenge in the coming years? Established outside the Paris region. The Supreme Audiovisual Council recently granted frequencies to Lille and Lyon, cities with a strong Portuguese community, and Strasbourg, a strategic city for European issues. While perhaps waiting for other areas.
