Festival Futurs Possibles
The ecological festival of Château de Goutelas
About Futurs Possibles
Futurs Possibles: Imagining a Desirable Future in the Heart of Forez
Since 2022, the Futurs Possibles festival has established itself as a must-attend event for ecological reflection in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Nestled at the Château de Goutelas, a cultural meeting center located on the foothills of Forez in Marcoux (Loire), this festival offers each year a three to four-day highlight combining thought, creation, and conviviality around major contemporary transitions.
An Exceptional Place to Think About the Future
The Château de Goutelas, rebuilt since the 1960s thanks to remarkable citizen effort, is today a living heritage site labeled a cultural meeting center by the Ministry of Culture. With its glazed tile roofs, ramparts, chapel, and modular rooms, the castle offers a unique setting to host a festival that crosses disciplines. Its inner courtyards, gardens, and exceptional panorama over the Forez plain contribute to the event's unique atmosphere.
A Multidisciplinary Festival Rooted in Transitions
Each edition of Futurs Possibles is built around a central theme related to ecological and societal issues. The festival brings together researchers, philosophers, artists, performing arts companies, associations, and field actors to share perspectives, knowledge, and practices. The formats are deliberately varied: round tables, conferences, shows, performances, participatory workshops, exhibitions, open-air screenings, guided tours, and large shared meals prepared with local products.
The ephemeral bookstore, run by the Lune & l'Autre bookstore from Montbrison, accompanies each edition and offers a selection of books related to the year's theme.
Previous Editions
- #1 (2022): "Humans / Non-humans, a Shared Planet" — Rights of rivers and streams, relationship with living beings and ecosystems, featuring Philippe Descola and Camille de Toledo.
- #2 (2023): "Soils, Critical Zone" — Dedicated to soils and the earth, this critical zone where terrestrial life in all its diversity is rooted, a common good to be managed and shared with all living beings.
- #3 (2024): "Desirable Food Zone" — Exploration of our food issues with researchers, artists, producers, and chefs.
- #4 (2025): "Animal Part" — Complex relationships between humans and animals, between affection and exploitation, wild presences and domestication.
- #5 (2026): "Bricology" — Fifth edition exploring the arts of making, tinkering, and inventing.
Futurs Possibles — edition 2026
5th Edition — #5: Bricology
For its fifth edition, the Futurs Possibles festival embraces the concept of bricology — the science of tinkering — to question the arts of making, inventing, and repairing. Since the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss in The Savage Mind (1962), the "bricoleur" embodies a creative figure who works with available means, diverts objects and materials, improvises, and reinvents from what already exists.
In an era of ecological crises and resource shortages, bricology becomes a major issue: how to repair rather than discard, make rather than consume, collectively invent solutions from what we have? The festival will bring together researchers, makers, artists, craftspeople, and tinkerers to explore these questions through conferences, debates, shows, participatory workshops, and demonstrations.
The Château de Goutelas will once again transform into a place of experimentation and sharing, where thought and action converge to imagine possible futures.
About Bricology
The term "bricology" echoes the notion of bricolage as theorized by Claude Lévi-Strauss, but also contemporary practices of makers, repair cafés, low-tech, Do It Yourself, and contemporary art that diverts and recycles. It aims to explore how the act of tinkering — assembling, diverting, repairing, improvising — can become an act of creative resistance against planned obsolescence and overconsumption.
Programme Futurs Possibles 2026
Program of the 5th Edition — #5: Bricology
The full program for the 5th edition will be unveiled in the spring of 2026 on the Château de Goutelas website. As every year, the festival will feature:
- Conferences and round tables with researchers, philosophers, and thinkers
- Shows and performances by performing arts companies
- Participatory workshops on making, tinkering, and repairing
- Exhibitions combining contemporary art and craft practices
- Large shared meals with local products from Forez
- Ephemeral bookstore by Lune & l'Autre
Highlights Futurs Possibles 2026
To Note for 2026
- Dates: Friday, May 29 to Sunday, May 31, 2026
- Theme: "Bricology" — the arts of making, tinkering, and inventing
- 5th edition of the ecology festival at Château de Goutelas
- Formats: conferences, debates, meetings, shows, workshops, exhibitions, shared meals
- Free participation (excluding shows and meals)
- Full program to be announced in spring 2026
Prices Futurs Possibles 2026
Practical information — Futurs Possibles
Practical Information
Access and Transport
By Car: Château de Goutelas is located in Marcoux, about 5 km from Montbrison. From Saint-Étienne, allow about 40 minutes via the A72. From Lyon, allow about 1 hour 30 minutes via the A72 (Montbrison exit). Follow the "Château de Goutelas" signs from Marcoux. Free parking is available on site.
By Train: The nearest station is Montbrison, served by TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes from Saint-Étienne (about 40 minutes). From Montbrison station, the castle is about 5 km away (consider carpooling or a taxi).
By Carpooling: The festival encourages carpooling via the Togetzer platform to facilitate access to the site.
On Site
Château de Goutelas has on-site accommodation with 27 double rooms. The castle café and on-site catering are accessible during the festival, with shared meals prepared from local products. A food truck is also available for meals not booked in advance.
Prices
Free participation for festival access (excluding shows and meals). Some shows and workshops may be ticketed or require booking. Shared meals must be booked in advance.
Accessibility
The castle is partially accessible to people with reduced mobility. For any specific requests, please contact the Château de Goutelas team at 04 77 97 35 42.
Contact
Château de Goutelas — Cultural Meeting Center
277 route de Goutelas, 42130 Marcoux
Phone: 04 77 97 35 42
Website: www.chateaudegoutelas.fr
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Where does it take place — Futurs Possibles
Château de Goutelas - Centre culturel de rencontre
277 route de Goutelas, 42130 Marcoux