Différent Toi-Même

A festival to change perceptions of disability

The Différent Toi-Même festival was born in 2016 from the common desire of three organizations involved in the cultural and social landscape of Forcalquier: the Compagnie Un Brin de Thé, the K'Fé Quoi, and the association Ensemble et Différents. Together, they imagined a unique event dedicated to the encounter between people with disabilities and the general public, through artistic creation and performing arts.

Eight days of shows, workshops, and meetings

Each edition of the festival unfolds over eight days in Forcalquier and the surrounding communes of the Pays de Haute-Provence. The program combines concerts, plays, street performances, clown and burlesque performances, screenings, and debates, all centered around the themes of difference, disability, and psychological suffering. Participatory artistic workshops — theater, collage, body expression, music — are offered before and during the festival, involving adults with disabilities from the Hermitage in Mane and La Simonette in Forcalquier.

Artists with disabilities on stage

The uniqueness of Différent Toi-Même lies in its ability to place artists with disabilities at the heart of the programming. Far from a charitable approach, the festival highlights professional creations made with and by people with disabilities. The shows presented explore the poetry of the body, gestural theater, clowning, and burlesque, in an aesthetic where difference becomes a source of creativity and emotion.

Compagnie Un Brin de Thé: the driving force behind the project

The Compagnie Un Brin de Thé, founded by Lætitia Brun, leads the festival's artistic project. With thirty years of experience in popular education and performing arts, the company has been developing artistic and educational activities in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence since 2014, in cooperation with local teams and the associative, artistic, and cultural networks of the region. Its work combines theater, clowning, and burlesque, with a particular focus on textual poetry and bodily expressiveness.

Ensemble et Différents: associative commitment

The association Ensemble et Différents, created in 2002 in Forcalquier, works daily to place difference at the heart of the city and create spaces for encounters between able-bodied people and people with disabilities. It is notably behind the inclusive housing project Les Amalias, inaugurated in 2021, which hosts three young adults with multiple disabilities in a shared living environment. The Différent Toi-Même festival is a continuation of this approach, using art as a vector for social connection and changing perceptions.

Le K'Fé Quoi: a place for culture and conviviality

Le K'Fé Quoi, a performance venue and cultural hub in Forcalquier since 1995, hosts part of the festival's program. With a capacity of 300 standing and 150 seated, this space has an indoor stage and an outdoor bar, offering a friendly and warm atmosphere for performances and meetings.