2023-10-18 03:30:04
What if the Avignon OFF Festival only lasted two weeks in 2024? We already know that the Avignon Festival will be brought forward by one week and will take place from June 29 to July 21, 2024, to free up law enforcement in time for the Olympic Games in Paris. But for OFF, which offered nearly 1,500 shows in 2023, the dates are still under discussion.
Members of Avignon Festival et Compagnies (AF&C), the association which coordinates the Off, must decide at an extraordinary general meeting on October 27. They will have the choice among three proposals : either keep three weeks and stick to the dates of the In festival, from June 29 to July 21, or reduce by a few days and start on July 3, or reduce by one week and organize the OFF festival over two weeks, from 6 to July 21.
Companies plead for a shorter festival
It is this last option, the shortest, which appeals most to many companies. They fear not being able to find housing before July 1. “There are between 4 and 6,000 Off workers who will look for housing, some from June 20. Will they find housing? It’s not certain”asks Jérémy Bourges, actor and elected member of the college of companies.
Companies also fear not finding their audience from June 29, if the school holidays have not yet started. “For certain theaters, we can imagine that retired or local audiences will be present but for working people or families, it will be difficult to be there. And for the 200 shows for young audiences, the companies will play in front of a room of approximately empty”also alerts Jérémy Bourges.
Ministry of Culture asked for help
Conversely, the theaters rather advocate the long version aligned with the Avignon Festival. “We want to be in convergence with the In festival, because it would be a first, and we want to honor the contract made with the town hall and the ministry when they fought for the festival to start on the 29th Juneexplains Laurent Rochut, director of the Factory in Avignon and vice-president of AF&C for the theater college. But we must also hear the companies’ fears.
Laurent Rochut now hopes that the solution will come from the Ministry of Culture. “He is working on an aid system for Fonpeps, which is a fund which helps with the salaries of actors on set, to try to find a solution so that the impact on companies is less “he explains.
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The 2024 Avignon Festival will end on July 21 due to the Olympic Games
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