Festival de Gavarnie

The highest festival in Europe

Created in 1985 by François Joxe, the Festival de Gavarnie is an artistic event unique in the world. Every summer, the Courade plateau, located at 1,450 meters altitude at the foot of the majestic Gavarnie cirque, transforms into an open-air theatre to host performing arts shows of striking beauty. This exceptional site, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list and classified as a Grand Site of the Occitanie Region, offers an incomparable natural setting with its waterfalls, vertiginous rock faces, and snow-capped peaks.

An ambitious artistic project

The festival aims to resonate universal works, specifically adapted for this unique location, within this "natural coliseum." Plays, operas, myths, and tales from the cultural heritage are reinvented by crossing numerous artistic disciplines: theatre, dance, music, circus arts, and visual arts. Each creation is designed to enhance the dialogue between art and the grandiose natural environment of the Gavarnie cirque.

A popular and intergenerational show

The Festival de Gavarnie has always been committed to offering a popular show accessible to all audiences. Evening performances gather up to 1,500 spectators in the open-air stands facing the cirque. The main show is complemented by the Variantes, artistic performances offered during the day in the village of Gavarnie.

A Pyrenean cultural heritage

Throughout its editions, the festival has presented memorable adaptations of great works: Cyrano de Bergerac, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Carmen, Alice Beyond the Wonders, Romeo and Juliet... Each creation is designed to resonate with the immensity of the site and humanity's place in the face of nature. However, the festival has experienced difficulties in recent years, with cancellations due to climatic hazards and financial challenges.