Le Mois Molière
The largest live performance festival in Île-de-France: 350 shows, 60 venues, in Versailles late May and June
About Mois Molière
Le Mois Molière is the largest live performance festival in Île-de-France. Every year from late May to late June, Versailles transforms into a huge open-air stage with nearly 350 performances in over 60 venues: squares, gardens, courtyards, theaters, royal stables, and chapels. Created in 1996 by François de Mazières, this popular and demanding festival blends classical theater, contemporary creations, dance, circus, music, and humor, with a program largely free or at €4 per show. A true talent incubator, Le Mois Molière has become over thirty years an unmissable event in the cultural life of the Île-de-France region and a recognized springboard to the Festival Off d'Avignon.
Versailles, a grand open-air stage
Since 1996, Le Mois Molière has transformed the city of Versailles into a vast open-air theater every spring-summer. For a full month, nearly 350 shows take over more than 60 venues in the city: the Grande Écurie du Roi, Place de la Cathédrale Saint-Louis, Place du Marché Notre-Dame, the Théâtre Montansier, the Potager du Roi, the Auditorium Claude Debussy, the Hôtel de Ville, the Jeu de Paume, the gardens of the Saint-Louis district, building courtyards, chapels, parks, and performance halls. This profusion of performances makes Le Mois Molière the largest live performance festival in Île-de-France and one of the most important in France by the number of shows offered.
A popular and demanding festival
The philosophy of Le Mois Molière is based on a dual commitment: artistic excellence and accessibility for all. The vast majority of shows are free or offered at a single price of €4. This bold pricing policy, supported by the City of Versailles, allows all audiences to discover quality creations, from classical theater to the most contemporary forms. The festival welcomes over 100,000 spectators each year, coming from Versailles, the Yvelines, and all of Île-de-France.
Theater, dance, circus, music: a multidisciplinary program
While theater remains the beating heart of the festival — from Molière to Marivaux, from Shakespeare to Brecht, including Camus and contemporary authors — the program widely opens up to other performing arts. Dance, circus, street arts, music, storytelling, and humor compose an eclectic program that renews the spectator's experience each year. Emerging companies rub shoulders with established artists in a program that values creation and risk-taking.
A talent incubator and a springboard to Avignon
Founded by François de Mazières, mayor of Versailles, Le Mois Molière has established itself over the editions as a true springboard for young companies. Many now recognized artists made their debut on the festival's stages. This vocation for discovery remains at the heart of the project: each edition gives pride of place to premieres, creations, and innovative forms. Since 2024, the festival also extends its action by presenting about twenty shows at the Festival Off d'Avignon, in two dedicated venues, confirming its role as a launching pad for theatrical creation.
Versailles, city of culture and heritage
Le Mois Molière also draws its uniqueness from its exceptional setting. The shows unfold in places steeped in history: the Grande Écurie du Roi, a masterpiece by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the French gardens, the Potager du Roi, the squares and alleys of the historic center. This staging in the urban space creates a unique experience where architectural heritage and living creation respond to each other, offering spectators an unprecedented relationship with the city and its treasures.
Mois Molière — edition 2026
The 30th anniversary edition of the Mois Molière takes over Versailles from May 30 to June 30, 2026 for a full month of live performances. Nearly 350 shows in more than 60 venues across the city — classical and contemporary theater, dance, circus, music, popular forms, and family shows — make up a multidisciplinary program, mostly free or at €4. This symbolic edition opens with troupes crossing Versailles in carts, as in Molière's time, before performing at the Jeu de Paume, marking thirty years of a festival that has become an unmissable event in the cultural life of Île-de-France.
Thirty years of popular theater in Versailles
The Mois Molière celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2026 with a particularly rich anniversary edition: 350 shows programmed over 32 days, from May 30 to June 30, in more than 60 venues across all districts of Versailles. A dozen resident companies participate in activities in the city's schools, extending the festival beyond simple event programming.
A symbolic opening for the 30th anniversary
To mark this anniversary, the 2026 edition opens with troupes crossing Versailles in carts, in the manner of Molière's itinerant actors, before performing at the Jeu de Paume. A staging that recalls the origins of popular theater and the founding spirit of the festival.
A program balancing classics and new creations
The edition features over forty productions, balancing great works from the repertoire and contemporary creations. The program includes: Dom Juan, Cyrano de Bergerac, La Princesse d'Élide and Parade, Louison et Monsieur Molière, Les Justes by Camus, Bérénice 34-44, L'Arlésienne, La Belle Hélène et les Garçons, Rosy & moi, Vous n'aurez pas ma haine, the show Olympe Audouard, and the Potager Fantasies at the Potager du Roi. The festival also offers adaptations of texts by Balzac, Flaubert, or Saint-Exupéry, as well as musical, dance, circus, and family shows.
An original creation generated by artificial intelligence
An unprecedented event for this anniversary edition: the creation L'Astrologue ou Les faux présages, a theatrical play generated by artificial intelligence, will be performed at the Opéra Royal of the Château de Versailles on May 5 and 6, 2026 as a preview of the festival. A way to mark the 30 years by exploring what tomorrow's theatrical writings could be.
150,000 spectators expected
With 350 shows and the prospect of welcoming up to 150,000 spectators for this anniversary edition, the Mois Molière 2026 confirms its status as the largest live performance festival in Île-de-France. Online booking remains essential for paid performances — tickets, few in number given the demand, sell out within a few hours of the box office opening.
Programme Mois Molière 2026
2026 Program — excerpts
The full program (28 pages, nearly 350 shows) can be consulted on the official Program page and downloaded as a digital brochure. Some identified highlights:
Preview — Opéra Royal of the Château de Versailles
- May 5 and 6, 2026 — L'Astrologue ou Les faux présages, a theatrical creation generated by artificial intelligence (30th anniversary preview)
Festival Opening — around May 30, 2026
- May 30 — La Princesse d'Élide and Parade, Place de la Cathédrale Saint-Louis
- May 30 and 31 — Louison et Monsieur Molière, Grande Écurie
- May 31 and June 26 — Olympe Audouard
First Fortnight — May 30 to June 14
- June 4 and 5 — Dom Juan by Molière
- June 6, 7, and 13 — Potager Fantasies, Potager du Roi
- Also programmed: Cyrano de Bergerac, Bérénice 34-44, Les Justes (Camus), L'Arlésienne, La Belle Hélène et les Garçons, Rosy & moi, Vous n'aurez pas ma haine, adaptations of Balzac, Flaubert, and Saint-Exupéry
Second Fortnight — June 15 to 30
- Continuation of theater, dance, circus, music, and street arts programming in the 60 festival venues (Théâtre Montansier, Auditorium Claude Debussy, Hôtel de Ville, Saint-Louis district gardens, building courtyards, chapels, squares, and parks)
- June 26 — reprise of Olympe Audouard
Main Venues
- Grande Écurie du Roi (Cour de la Grande Écurie) — masterpiece by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, main venue of the City
- Théâtre Montansier — historic Italian-style theater
- Potager du Roi — heritage garden
- Auditorium Claude Debussy
- Hôtel de Ville, Jeu de Paume
- Place du Marché Notre-Dame, Place de la Cathédrale Saint-Louis, Saint-Louis district gardens
- 60 other venues in all Versailles districts: building courtyards, chapels, parks
Programmed Categories
Classical theater, contemporary theater, popular forms, emerging creations, family shows, music, dance, circus, storytelling, humor, street arts.
Highlights Mois Molière 2026
- 30th anniversary edition — thirty years of popular theater in Versailles
- 350 shows in more than 60 venues across the city (vs 250 in previous editions)
- Symbolic opening with troupes crossing Versailles in carts to the Jeu de Paume, as in Molière's time
- Unprecedented creation L'Astrologue ou Les faux présages, a play generated by artificial intelligence, at the Opéra Royal on May 5 and 6, 2026
- Highly accessible single price: majority of shows are free, others at €4
- Multidisciplinary program: theater (Molière, Marivaux, Shakespeare, Camus, Brecht, contemporary), dance, circus, music, street arts, family shows
- 150,000 spectators expected for the anniversary edition
- Recognized springboard to the Festival Off d'Avignon — 22 shows produced by the festival will be restaged there in July
Prices Mois Molière 2026
Practical information — Mois Molière
Practical Information
Access
By train: Versailles-Rive Droite station (Transilien L from Paris Saint-Lazare, 35 min), Versailles-Rive Gauche station (RER C from Paris, 40 min) or Versailles-Chantiers station (Transilien N and U). Performance venues are accessible on foot from the stations.
By car: A13 from Paris, exit Versailles-Centre. Parking at Place d'Armes, Place du Marché Notre-Dame and Parking des Manèges.
Prices and reservations
Many shows are free. Other performances, especially those at the Grande Écurie, are offered at the single price of €4 and require mandatory online reservation on moismoliere.com (tickets sell out quickly). Reservations open in two phases: during May for shows in the first half of the month, early June for the second half.
Contact
Phone: 01 30 97 80 80
Email: [email protected]
Hôtel de ville, 4 avenue de Paris, 78000 Versailles
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Where does it take place — Mois Molière
Versailles — Multiples lieux (Grande Écurie, places, jardins, théâtres)
Place du Marché Notre-Dame, 78000 Versailles