Festival du Verbe

Festival du Verbe: A celebration of speech in Martres-Tolosane

The Festival du Verbe celebrates orality, speech, and the voice in all their forms. Organized by the Les Amis du Verbe association, it takes place every September in Martres-Tolosane, Haute-Garonne, on the peninsula between the Garonne river and the town, at Camping Le Moulin.

Orality in all its forms

The festival explores the many facets of orality: oral literature, song, verbal jousting, poetry, and slam. Guest artists are given carte blanche to speak, sing, and perform their own texts or those of others, in a series of shows where the audience is invited to engage with the performers. Each edition features a specific theme that runs through the entire program.

An association founded in 2002

Les Amis du Verbe is a civic and cultural association founded in 2002 by Dick Annegarn, powered by dozens of volunteers. The Festival du Verbe was born two years later, in 2004, with an Occitan spirit: Claude Nougaro visited to participate and scout locations in Laffite-Toupière at the end of his poetry tour, "Les Fables de ma Fontaine." Early editions featured the Fabulous Trobadors, André Minvielle, Jean-Pierre Mader, and students and teachers from the Calandretas, the Occitan schools.

Returning artists

Over the years, the festival has brought together artists such as Raphaël, Christophe, -M-, Bénabar, Mathieu Boogaerts, Claude Sicre, Oxmo Puccino, Dany Boon, Vincent Delerm, CharlÉlie Couture, Cali, Renan Luce, Sanseverino, and Clarika, all invited to engage in encounters with local artists and create original work based on the year's theme.

The Épicentre and the Verbothèque

Throughout the year, the association runs the Épicentre in Martres-Tolosane, a resource center for the art of the spoken word. Its Verbothèque provides access to a thousand works on oral literature and hosts artist residencies. Les Amis du Verbe also organizes poetry contests and verbal jousting events, and works within local schools.