Châteauvallon-Liberté — Summer Festival

Châteauvallon-Liberté: Sixty Years of Open-Air Creation in the Heart of Provence's Var Region

Perched on the limestone hills overlooking Ollioules and the bay of Toulon, the Châteauvallon site is one of France's most unique artistic creation venues. Its open-air amphitheater, carved directly into the limestone rock of the Provençal hills, offers one of the most striking panoramas for a performance space: the view encompasses the surrounding hills, the terraced slopes, and on clear days, the distant sparkle of the Mediterranean.

It is in this exceptional setting that one of the most important summer festivals in the South of France has developed since the 1960s: the Châteauvallon-Liberté Summer Festival. Today managed by the national stage Châteauvallon-Liberté — which also runs Le Liberté in Toulon — this festival is the highlight of the Var region's artistic season, attracting spectators from the Var, PACA region, and all over France each year.

Sixty Years of Creative Freedom

Châteauvallon was founded in 1965 by Pierre Lacroix, a visionary artist who discovered the site and wanted to create an alternative cultural space, outside traditional institutions. With its hills, terraces, natural amphitheater, and the unique light of Provence, Châteauvallon was born as a place of artistic freedom and a meeting point between the arts and nature.

Over the decades, the venue has hosted the greatest national and international artists: renowned choreographers, experimental theater troupes, contemporary circus companies, and musicians from around the world. The festival has helped launch talents who have gone on to mark their time, while remaining true to its initial ambition: to make this Provençal rock a space for encounters between live art and the general public.

Artistic Direction by Charles Berling

Since taking over as director, Charles Berling — actor, director, and an iconic figure in French cinema and theater — has brought new momentum to Châteauvallon. Under his leadership, the national stage has strengthened its commitment to contemporary creation and multidisciplinarity, while preserving the historical link between live art and the Var region. The summer festival has become the culmination of this vision: a crossroads of disciplines, aesthetics, and audiences.

A National Multidisciplinary Festival

What sets the Châteauvallon-Liberté Summer Festival apart is the richness and diversity of its programming. Over several weeks in June and July, the festival offers a comprehensive panorama of contemporary performing arts:

• Contemporary Dance: The most important choreographers on the French and international scene — from Angelin Preljocaj (whose company is based in Aix-en-Provence) to the new generations — present their latest creations in the open-air amphitheater.
• Theater: Demanding productions, contemporary texts or revisited classics, monologues, and performances, led by the most significant artists on the French theater scene.
• Contemporary Circus: Major creation circus companies, which have revolutionized this art form by bringing it closer to theater and dance, find a stage at Châteauvallon that matches their ambitions.
• Music: Concerts from all genres — jazz, world music, chamber music, acoustic electronic — in the nocturnal setting of the amphitheater.
• Digital Arts: In tune with the times, the festival incorporates creations that blend digital technologies, projected images, interactive installations, and hybrid performances.

Open Air as an Artistic Dimension

Châteauvallon's unique characteristic is its open-air amphitheater and the relationship it establishes between the performance, the audience, and the natural environment. Artists who create here often integrate this connection to the open space, the sky, the wind, and the fading evening light: the venue itself becomes a dramaturgical element. The spectator is not just in a hall; they are in Provence, under the stars, facing the landscape.

The 60th Anniversary in 2025

The 2025 edition of the Châteauvallon-Liberté Summer Festival marked a significant symbolic milestone: the 60th anniversary of the site. From June 26 to July 29, 2025, the anniversary program brought together iconic artists from the venue's history and creations reflecting the vitality of contemporary performing arts. This anniversary was an opportunity to trace sixty years of artistic history, honor the artists who built Châteauvallon's reputation, and celebrate a unique cultural adventure in France.