Jours de Fête

Summer in performance in the Rouen metropolitan area

Jours de Fête is the cultural event of the summer in the Métropole Rouen Normandie. From early July to late August, about twenty free performances take over public spaces in about ten municipalities in the territory, offering residents and visitors a summer rich in artistic discoveries and encounters.

The festival is the result of close collaboration between the Métropole Rouen Normandie and Atelier 231, one of the thirteen National Centers for Street Arts and Public Spaces (CNAREP) accredited by the Ministry of Culture, located in Sotteville-lès-Rouen. This shared expertise guarantees a demanding and generous program, combining established shows and contemporary creations.

Performances for everyone in public spaces

The Jours de Fête program embraces the full diversity of performing arts in public spaces:

• Street theater: theater companies taking over squares and gardens with funny, poetic, or committed creations
• Contemporary circus: acrobatics, juggling, balancing, and aerial performances in the open air
• Dance: from hip-hop to burlesque, from contemporary dance to participatory performances
• Music: concerts by the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen Normandie in unique and unusual locations, brass bands, itinerant musical performances
• Festive installations: playful structures, interactive works, and artistic devices transforming the urban space
• Silent and burlesque performances: forms accessible to all, without language barriers

A traveling festival across the territory

Jours de Fête is not confined to Rouen: the festival travels to about ten municipalities in the metropolis, bringing performing arts closer to residents. Among the venues used over the editions:

• Rouen: Place de la Cathédrale, Aître Saint-Maclou, Dalle de la Grand'Mare, Parc Grammont, Esplanade Marcel-Duchamp, Square Verdrel
• Bois-Guillaume, Maromme, La Bouille, Sahurs, Montmain, Saint-Pierre-lès-Elbeuf, Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Duclair, Roncherolles-sur-le-Vivier, Le Grand-Quevilly

Each municipality hosts one or more performances on weekends, transforming village squares, parks, and gardens into ephemeral open-air stages.

Atelier 231 and the ReNAR network

Atelier 231 is the National Center for Street Arts and Public Spaces in Sotteville-lès-Rouen, one of the thirteen centers accredited in France by the Ministry of Culture. Its mission: to support creation, dissemination, and cultural action in the field of street arts and public spaces. Atelier 231 brings its artistic expertise to the Jours de Fête programming, selecting companies that offer unique, bold, and always generous forms.

The festival also benefits from the support of the ReNAR network (Normandy Network for Street Arts), which brings together 15 festival partners who have been organizing free summer seasons in public spaces throughout Normandy for over 18 years.

A popular and free summer

True to its philosophy of access to culture for all, Jours de Fête is entirely free. Performances are free to access, without reservation, inviting everyone to (re)discover the Rouen metropolitan area with family or friends, at the rhythm of artistic creations. The festival is a moment of conviviality, surprises, and encounters, where art invites itself into the daily lives of residents.