Founded in 1947 by Jean Vilar, the Festival d’Avignon is now one of the most important international theater and live performance events.
The event takes place in July, transforming Avignon into a theater-city, thanks to more than 400 events, such as performances, meetings, readings, screenings and more.
Since 1947, the Festival d’Avignon has represented universalism in the service of cultural heritage and contemporary creation; the putting into perspective of Art with social reality; a political and aesthetic project that observes the great metamorphoses of live performance and, through them, the diversity and complexity of the world.
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Courtyard of Honor of the Palace of the Popes is the cradle of the Festival, which occupies more than 30 venues in the city and its region. Among works of art but also gymnasiums in cloisters, chapels in gardens, quarries in churches, the Festival welcomes more than 120,000 spectators during more than 400 events (performances, debates, meetings, readings, screenings).
FabricA, the first space specifically designed for the Festival, opened in 2013. A year-round venue for artist residencies, it houses a room the same size as the Cour d’honneur stage and helps intensify the Festival’s outreach to the performing arts with all audiences.
The Avignon Festival takes place in July, at the same time as the Festival Off.
To find out about other events in Provence, click here.