For lovers of theatre, dance and contemporary art, the Festival d'Avignon remains a major yearly event. The Festival d'Avignon is becoming a major arts event for this beautiful city in South France. Avignon, straddling the regions of Provence and Languedoc, is a must see city on any visit to the South of France (see our article on Avignon tourism). Since its inception in 1947, the Festival d’Avignon has been a major pioneer of contemporary art and street theatre. The 2026 Festival d'Avignon will take place from 4 to 26 July 2026 and will be the 80th edition of the festival.
South France festivals: Festival d'Avignon
Each year the Festival d'Avignon features between 35 and 40 different productions from artists all over the world, French and non-French, totaling about 300 performances. Many of the performances are French premieres and include such artisic forms as poetry readings, films, exhibitions, modern art, theatre, dance and music. The Festival d Avignon regularly features over 3,500 performing arts professionals each year.
This South France arts festival takes over the whole of Avignon for a period of 3 weeks in the summer and occupies over 20 different venues. The venues are a combination of historical sites, theatres, exhibition spaces and the outdoors. In total, the Festival d'Avignon sells over 140,000 tickets during the period of the festival, making this one of the largest Arts festivals in France. More than 75% of the audience comes from outside the Avignon region (including 10% from overseas) making this festival a major tourism attraction for the city.
The Festival d'Avignon has an annual budget of €12m euros and is heavily supported by the French Government, with only 41% of the total revenue coming from ticket sales. The Festival is run on a non-for-profit basis and it has retained its original desire to bring arts to the masses by making many of the shows free entry. I think this just goes to show how seriously France takes the arts.
The Festival d'Avignon 2026 runs from 29 June to 21 July 2026. For more information on the Festival d'Avignon, please visit http://www.festival-avignon.com
Where to next . . . ?
If you are visiting the South of France this summer, then get the inside track on the best Places to see & visit in the South of France in 2026 (written by people who live in Southern France all year around). Read about the best restaurants to eat at, get local information on the best beaches to visit and discover the best tourist sites, markets and festivals to see during your stay.
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