Festival OFF d'Avignon

The Festival OFF d'Avignon: The Global Laboratory for Live Performance Creation

Born in 1966 in the shadow of the Festival IN founded by Jean Vilar, the Festival OFF d'Avignon took an inverse path: where the IN selects, the OFF welcomes. Open to all companies wishing to perform, it has become over the decades the largest gathering of performing arts in the world, a huge marketplace for creation where beginners and seasoned artists, the experimental and the general public, the tragic and the comic mingle.

Organized by the association Avignon Festival & Compagnies (AF&C), the Festival OFF represents a formidable artistic effervescence each year: thousands of artists take over the courtyards of private mansions, medieval cellars, gymnasiums, chapels, and makeshift theaters to present their works to audiences from all over the world.

A Unique and Abundant Format

In 2024, the Festival OFF reached dizzying figures: 1,617 shows presented by 1,316 companies in over 130 venues, for a total of over 4,000 daily performances over twenty-one days. These figures make the OFF a cultural phenomenon without equal in the world.

Unlike the Festival IN, whose programming is finalized several months in advance, the OFF operates on a free registration basis. Companies rent venues, manage their own communication, and perform under sometimes precarious conditions, but with total freedom. This logic of self-production and artistic risk-taking is the very DNA of the festival.

Disciplines Represented

The Festival OFF is resolutely multidisciplinary:

• Theater: the dominant form with thousands of contemporary and classic texts revisited
• Humor: numerous one-man and one-woman shows, solo comedic performances
• Dance: from contemporary to classical, including hip-hop and popular forms
• Circus and Street Arts: jugglers, acrobats, and performers in the city squares
• Music and Musical Theater: a growing musical dimension in the programming
• Young Audiences: a dedicated space, Village TADAMM!, for children and families

A Village and a Community

The social heart of the Festival OFF is the Village du OFF, a space for meetings and exchanges located in the heart of Avignon. Performing arts professionals, artists, journalists, programmers, and spectators gather there daily for informal discussions, show presentations, and debates on the sector's challenges.

For families, the Village TADAMM! offers a selection of shows for young audiences in a friendly and secure environment, making the OFF a festival accessible from the youngest age.

A Key Role in the Performing Arts Ecosystem

Beyond programming, the Festival OFF plays a structuring role in the performing arts sector in France and Europe. Programmers from festivals and theaters worldwide travel to Avignon to discover the OFF's shows and decide on future tours. Every July, hundreds of co-production and distribution contracts are signed, making Avignon the world's leading market for performing arts.

AF&C supports companies throughout the year through training, professional networks, and support programs to help them develop beyond the festival.

A Festival Rooted in the City's History

The simultaneous presence of the Festival IN and the Festival OFF transforms Avignon into a city entirely dedicated to performance every July. Spectators in evening wear and artists covered in posters cross paths in the narrow streets of the medieval city. The city walls disappear under thousands of colorful flyers. Cafes become impromptu stages. This unique atmosphere, unlike any other, is what makes Avignon in July an extraordinary cultural event.