Festival RenaissanceS

The Festival RenaissanceS ends after twenty-six editions

The Festival RenaissanceS in Bar-le-Duc is no more. The final edition held was in July 2024, marking its twenty-sixth year. In January 2025, during her New Year's address, the mayor of Bar-le-Duc, Martine Joly, announced the end of the event, describing it as "outdated and lacking identity," and its transformation into a festival focused on comedy. "The Renaissance festival has had a good run; it was time to turn the page and dare to try a new format," she stated. The 2025 edition, which had been on the calendar, did not take place, and no 2026 edition is scheduled.

The official festival page on the City of Bar-le-Duc website is no longer online. No revival of the Festival RenaissanceS has been announced to date.

What the Festival RenaissanceS was

Created in 1996, the Festival RenaissanceS was born from a desire to highlight the Renaissance district of the Ville Haute in Bar-le-Duc, one of the most remarkable 16th-century urban ensembles in France, featuring private mansions, sculpted pediments, and fluted pilasters. Every first weekend of July, the historic center of the ducal city became an open-air stage.

The programming was based on a dual artistic identity:

• Street arts: street theater, circus, dance, wandering performances, installations, and participatory acts in the streets, squares, and inner courtyards of the city.
• Music: a program that featured early and baroque music, resonating with the Renaissance heritage of Bar-le-Duc, alongside concerts by contemporary artists.

Place Saint-Pierre, the rue des Ducs de Bar, and the church of Saint-Étienne—which houses the Transi de Ligier Richier—were among the iconic locations used by the companies. A craft and gastronomic market and activities for young audiences rounded out the program, much of which was free to access.

A major event in the Grand Est

Over the years, the festival established itself as one of the major cultural events in the Meuse and the Grand Est region. Attendance peaked in 2018, with nearly 53,000 total spectators. Its economic impact was also documented: the twenty-fourth edition in 2022 generated approximately €680,000 in revenue for local businesses.

The final editions were held from July 1st to 3rd, 2022 (24th), June 30th to July 2nd, 2023 (25th), and July 5th to 7th, 2024 (26th and final).

What succeeds RenaissanceS in Bar-le-Duc

The municipality replaced RenaissanceS with a Comedy Festival, the first edition of which was held on June 27, 28, and 29, 2025. This event takes place within the city, between the place Reggio, the covered market, the City Hall park, and the collège Gilles de Trèves, blending stand-up, theater, music, and improvisation.

This is a distinct event with its own identity and calendar: it does not continue the Festival RenaissanceS and does not carry over its street arts programming or its early-July dates.