Les Rencontres Chaland

Les Rencontres Chaland: The Global Hub of Ligne Claire

Created in 2008 by Isabelle Beaumenay-Joannet and the City of Nérac, Les Rencontres Chaland pay tribute to Yves Chaland (1957-1990), a major comic strip author and illustrator of the Ligne Claire movement, who spent most of his youth in Nérac. Since their inception, Les Rencontres Chaland have established themselves as the global hub of Ligne Claire, attracting authors and enthusiasts of the ninth art from all over France and Europe each year.

A Multidisciplinary Festival Around Comic Strips

Organized by the association Les Amis d'Yves Chaland, the festival offers a rich and varied program:

• Exhibitions of original artwork presented in several locations in the city, notably at the Galerie des Tanneries, visible throughout October and the first week of November
• Signings and meetings with about thirty authors at the Espace d'Albret
• Conferences and debates at the Le Margot cinema, which also screens animated films, fiction, and documentaries related to comic strips
• Introduction to comic strip workshops for children aged 7 and up

The Jeune Albert and Petit Albert Reading Prizes

Les Rencontres Chaland awards two reading prizes each year, voted on by high school and middle school students in Lot-et-Garonne: the Jeune Albert prize and the Petit Albert prize. These prizes recognize selected comic strip albums of the year, helping to promote reading and the discovery of the ninth art among young audiences. In 2025, the Jeune Albert prize was awarded to Lolita Couturier for Retour à Epsilon (Les Humanoïdes Associés) and the Petit Albert prize to Mathieu Sapin for L'Oeil du loup.

Professional and Youth Days

In addition to the public weekend, Les Rencontres Chaland organizes professional days on Thursday and youth days on Friday preceding the festival. These days allow book and comic strip professionals to discuss the sector's challenges, and schoolchildren to benefit from exclusive meetings with invited authors.

Nérac, Yves Chaland's Town

Located in the heart of Albret, the town of Nérac is intimately linked to the work of Yves Chaland. Les Rencontres Chaland highlight this heritage by offering tours of the town and showcasing the connections between Chaland's graphic universe and his childhood territory. The festival contributes to the cultural influence of Nérac and Lot-et-Garonne, and helps keep alive the memory of an artist whose influence remains considerable in the world of comic strips.