Les Trois Jours de Grestain

A multidisciplinary festival in a Norman abbey

Born from the initiative of the theater company Le Fil de la Plume, based in Pont-Audemer, Les Trois Jours de Grestain is a multidisciplinary festival that takes over the remarkable site of the Grestain Abbey in Fatouville-Grestain every summer. For three days in August, this former monastic site transforms into an open-air artistic stage, hosting theater, dance performances, concerts, exhibitions, and participatory workshops. The festival is distinguished by its intimate and warm, human-scale atmosphere.

Theater and performing arts at the heart of the program

Theater is the central pillar of the Les Trois Jours de Grestain program. Several theater companies present their creations in the abbey grounds: solo performances, plays for young audiences, and contemporary theatrical performances. The shows take advantage of the abbey's architecture and landscape, playing with the ruins, ancient trees, and natural light to create unique scenographies. The festival has notably hosted plays such as La Fugue, J'ai vu maman pleurer (for young audiences), and Van Gogh, la quête absolue.

Music, dance, and visual arts

Beyond theater, the festival offers concerts mixing guitar, clarinet, violin, percussion, and vocals, providing intimate musical moments in the green setting of the park. Dance also has its place in the program with performances that interact with the historic space. Visual arts are represented by exhibitions of collages, sculptures, and installations scattered throughout the park and the renovated barn of the abbey, featuring artists like Wanda Forever (collages) and Robuste Odin (sculpture).

Participatory workshops and openness to young audiences

Les Trois Jours de Grestain is a resolutely participatory festival open to all audiences. Screen printing workshops on t-shirts allow everyone to leave with a personal creation. Theater discovery workshops are specially designed for children aged 6 to 13, led by professional actors. Guided tours of the abbey and its grounds enrich the cultural experience by revealing the thousand-year history of this place founded in the 11th century by the family of William the Conqueror.

An enchanting setting between heritage and nature

The Grestain Abbey estate offers an incomparable setting for this summer festival. The shady park under ancient trees, the fresh spring that flows nearby, and the architectural remains of the abbey create a serene and inspiring atmosphere. A bar-refreshment stand located in the park or near the spring allows festival-goers to extend their conversations between shows in a simple and authentic conviviality. The festival contributes to the cultural influence of the Seine estuary and the enhancement of this remarkable abbey heritage.