The Festival d'Avignon
July in Avignon: one month of theatre and performing arts
I recently discovered that Avignon becomes the set of a city-wide theatre festival each year in July - and hoping to pop by, perhaps next week 😍
Founded in 1947 by Jean Vilar, the Festival d'Avignon is now one of the biggest international theatre events featuring contemporary live performance. For 78 years now, the city of Avignon turns into a thriving theatre city. (Avignon Tourisme)
“To provide theatre, and collective art, with something other than indoors spaces; to reconcile architecture and dramatic poetry.” – Jean Vilar
The city actually hosts two events: the “in” portion is the official one - featuring top theatre companies from all over the world, whereas the “off” is the alternative and independent portion, featuring smaller and less established groups.
Every year since last year, the festival honors a language, with many of the shows offered or available in that language. The English language was honored in 2023, while the 2024 edition is honoring Spanish.