Founded in 1947 by Jean Vilar, the Festival d'Avignon is now one of the biggest international theatre events featuring contemporary live performance. For 789years now, the city of Avignon turns into a thriving theatre city.
The Festival d'Avignon represents 80 years of universalism in the service of cultural heritage and contemporary creation. 80 years of putting art into perspective with social reality. 80 years of a political and aesthetic project that observes the great metamorphoses of the performing arts and, through them, the diversity and complexity of the world.
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des papes is the birthplace of the Festival, which takes over 30 venues in the city and surrounding region. From gymnasiums to cloisters, chapels to gardens, quarries to churches, the Festival welcomes over 120,000 spectators to more than 400 events (shows, debates, meetings, readings, screenings).
To be the international meeting place for theatrical creation, the happy marriage between memory, history, heritage and the future, experimentation and; to accentuate the Festival's territorial presence; to make ecology a priority concern and to promote accessibility in all its dimensions: these are the main thrusts of Tiago Rodrigues' direction at the helm of the Festival since September 2022...
In 2013, FabricA, the first space specially designed for the Festival, was inaugurated. A year-round artist-in-residence venue, it houses a room the size of the Cour d'honneur stage, and enables the Festival to step up its efforts to raise awareness of the performing arts among all audiences.
In 2026, following in the footsteps of English, Spanish and Arabic, the Festival d'Avignon will be welcoming an Asian language that is now spreading throughout the world: Korean. South Korean culture fascinates the world: K-pop, cinema, TV series, literature... But beyond this soft power, we want to reveal the richness of the Korean performing arts.
Further information at https://festival-avignon.com/
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des papes is the birthplace of the Festival, which takes over 30 venues in the city and surrounding region. From gymnasiums to cloisters, chapels to gardens, quarries to churches, the Festival welcomes over 120,000 spectators to more than 400 events (shows, debates, meetings, readings, screenings).
To be the international meeting place for theatrical creation, the happy marriage between memory, history, heritage and the future, experimentation and; to accentuate the Festival's territorial presence; to make ecology a priority concern and to promote accessibility in all its dimensions: these are the main thrusts of Tiago Rodrigues' direction at the helm of the Festival since September 2022...
In 2013, FabricA, the first space specially designed for the Festival, was inaugurated. A year-round artist-in-residence venue, it houses a room the size of the Cour d'honneur stage, and enables the Festival to step up its efforts to raise awareness of the performing arts among all audiences.
In 2026, following in the footsteps of English, Spanish and Arabic, the Festival d'Avignon will be welcoming an Asian language that is now spreading throughout the world: Korean. South Korean culture fascinates the world: K-pop, cinema, TV series, literature... But beyond this soft power, we want to reveal the richness of the Korean performing arts.
Further information at https://festival-avignon.com/
Opening times
Opening times
From 3 July 2026 until 25 July 2026 - Open everyday
