Festival of Avignon

The Festival of Avignon , is an annual festival of founded Théatre in 1947 by Jean Vilar, following a meeting with the poet Rene Char. It takes place each summer in July in the streets and multiple Théatre S of the historical center of Avignon in Provence.

It is incontestably more the big demonstration of theatrical art and the live performance in France by the number of creations and the spectators, and one of the great decentralized artistic events oldest.

Birth of the festival

Within the framework of an exposure entitled One week of Art in Avignon , Jean Vilar , actor, director, theater director, programs from September 4th to 10th 1947, in three places (Main courtyard of the Palais of the Popes, the municipal Theater and the Orchard of Urbain V), the week of dramatic art in Avignon .

Seven representations are given there, of which 3 creations:

the Festival of Avignon was born .

Jean Vilar sticks a troop of actors which will come from now on each year to join together a public increasingly many and increasingly faithful.

These young talents, they are in particular Jean Négroni, Germaine Montero, Alain Cuny, Michel Bouquet, Jean-Pierre Jorris, Silvia Montfort, Jeanne Moreau, Daniel Sorano, Maria Casarès, Philippe Noiret, Monique Chaumette, Jean the Foal, Charles Denner, Jean Deschamps, Georges Wilson…

Gerard Philippe, already famous with the screen, will join them in 1951; there remained the icon about it, with its famous roles of the Cid, (Crow) and of the Prince de Hombourg (of Heinrich von Kleist).

Jean Vilar directs the Festival until his death in 1971.

From 1971 to 1979, Paul Puaux continues committed work.

Since 1980, the Festival is an association governed by the law of 1901. Each community which subsidizes the Festival: State, Town of Avignon, Department of Vaucluse, Area Provence-Alp-Coast of Azure, are represented with the board of directors which counts also seven qualified personalities.

Under the impulse of Bernard Faivre d'Arcier (1980-1984 and 1993-2003), and of Alain Crombecque (1985-1992), the festival professionnalise its management and increases its notoriety.

In September 2003, Hortense Archambault and Vincent Baudriller take the direction of the Festival.

The festival today

60 years passed since the creation of the week of dramatic art , all or almost changed:

* duration: one week in the beginning, with some spectacles, the festival is held from now on during 3 to 4 weeks each summer.

* places: the Festival essaimé its representations in other places that the mythical Main courtyard of the Palais of the Popes, in twenty theaters of Avignon like in forty sites arranged for circumstance (schools, vaults, gymnasia, etc).

These places are the greatest part in Avignon intramurally (inside the ramparts) or are disseminated in the city. Other communes accommodate the festival, Chartreuse of Villeneuve-lez-Avignon (Gard), career of Boulbon (Rhone delta), etc

* the nature of the festival: in the beginning traditional festival of theater, Avignon opened with contemporary creation, other arts, in particular with the Contemporary dance, (Maurice Béjart since 1966), with MIME, the Marionnette S, the musical theater, the equestrian spectacle (Zingaro), with the Arts of the street etc

* the audience of the festival of Avignon: one can say that Avignon invented in 1947 the concept of Festival. It is since thousands of festivals which are held each year (in summer for the majority).

The initial ambition of the festival to join together best French theater in a place widened with the passing of years to reach an international audience, a growing number of nonFrench companies coming each year to occur in Avignon.

Association faith and culture collaborate in the festival by proposing sets of themes of religious history of France.

All or almost changed, but remain the famous trumpets of Maurice Jarre which announce each summer in the Main courtyard that a spectacle will begin…

Festival Off

In margin of the official festival, and on the initiative of the New Company founded by Andre Benedetto which will play for the first time in 1964, are held since 1967/1968 of tens (hundreds, now) of other spectacles - 38 spectacles are proposed in margin of the festival in 1971, more than 700 troops registered in 2003 - and 539 in 2004 to give 667 spectacles and this without counting the spectacles of street, etc (Festival Off ).

Since the conflict of the Intermittent in 2003, the Festival off crosses serious turbulences, and several structures and associations are in competition.

Of 1982 to 2005 , association " Public Avignon Off" under the impulse of Alain Léonard published an exhaustive program of the spectacles proposed in partnership with all the partners of OFF.

In 2006 :

  • 400 companies and the majority of the theaters of OFF, is meadows of 500 structures joined paritairement to become Avignon Festival and Companies (AF&C) with in the chair Andre BENEDETTO
Since July 2007, AF&C accompanies only a festival OFF unified and alleviated.

" The festival Off in chiffre" in 2006 the festival off saw its frequentation reaching 735.000 spectators for a cumulated number of daily spectacles of 856.

The cancellation of the edition 2003

Seven hundred and fifty spectacles were envisaged in 2003. The strike of the Contract workers - actors, technicians… - who aimed at protesting against the reform of the modes of Assedic compensation led to the cancellation of the festival IN 2003 and a hundred spectacles of OFF. This fight began in February 2003, and is still sharp in 2007. It aims at protecting the statute from the intermittency. In 2003, the public ravelled in the streets with the trades of the live performance. Many regional collectives were created and a national coordination meets since regularly.

2005 discuss

For the edition 2005, certain spectacles of the festival in saw a great number spectators to leave their place during the representation. Le Figaro lance the controversy in the press, judging in several articles the edition 2005 like a “catastrophic artistic and moral disaster”, while France Inter speaks about “catastrophe inhabitant of Avignon” and Provence of “grogne about the public”. Libération takes again criticism in more measured terms, defending the festival, just like the Minister for the Culture.

The festival 2006 in figures

: 133760 tickets were delivered at the time of this 60e edition of Avignon, on a gauge of: 152000 places.

The rate of frequentation is thus of 88%, which places this edition on the level of the “historical” years (it was into 2005 of 85%). : 15000 entries were also recorded with the free demonstrations such as exposures, readings, meetings, films, etc

The tickets delivered with the young people of less than 25 years or students represented a share in progression, which reached 12%.

A spectacle doped the frequentation of the festival: Battuta , of Bartabas and its equestrian Theater Zingaro, which recorded a rate of frequentation of 98%: 28.000 spectators of 22 representations, is more than 20% of the total.

The edition 2007

The festival 2007 whose Associated Artist is Frederic Fisbach

The festival 2008

The festival 2008…

Data bases of the Jean-Vilar House

The work of Jean Vilar and the totality of the 3000 demonstrations programmed with the Festival of Avignon since its beginnings into 1947 are accessible to the House Jean-Vilar (library, video library, exposures, database…)

  • 8, rue Mons, Assembled Paul Puaux, 84000 Avignon

  • Site of the House Jean-Vilar

Reception and housing

Right from the start festival, it was necessary to find solutions to accommodate the public of the young people in Avignon. The Fifties saw developing " Internationales" meetings; whose organization and framing were entrusted to CEMEA (Center of drive to the methods of active education). Thus was born, in 1959, Association " Centers of Young people and Stay of the Festival of Avignon". It gathers three partners founders: the Festival of Avignon, the town of Avignon and CEMEA. Association has the aim of giving to young people and adults the possibility of being accommodated in Avignon under the conditions such as they can benefit all possible from the spectacles of the festival, the cultural interest presented by Avignon and its surroundings, of the exchanges of views between participants of all countries.

External bonds

  • Official site of the Festival of Avignon
  • Photographs of the Festival of Avignon
  • the association equal of the companies and the places of the festival Off
  • the association of the places of the festival Off
  • Avignon association Off (Plato-Pro)
  • Memory on the relations of being able in Off the 2006
  • the Daily newspaper of the Festival of Avignon In and Off since 2003
  • Retour on Avignon 2004

Related articles

  • List of the festivals

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