Paroles en Festival

Forty years in service of storytelling and the spoken word

Paroles en Festival is an international festival of storytelling and spoken arts founded in 1986 by Agnès Chavanon through AMAC (Antenne Mobile d'Action Culturelle), based in Aubenas in Ardèche. A pioneer of the storytelling revival in France, Agnès Chavanon created this festival to defend and promote the art of the storyteller, verbal arts, and orality in all its forms.

A traveling festival across the region

One of the unique features of Paroles en Festival is its traveling nature. Every spring, the festival unfolds its program across six departments in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, including Ardèche, taking over both large performance halls and small rural villages. This itinerant approach allows storytelling to reach diverse audiences, from urban centers to the most remote hamlets, in line with AMAC's mission to make culture accessible to all.

The Storytelling Festival and Storytelling Night in Aubenas

The heart of the festival beats in Aubenas, AMAC's home base, where the event's highlights take place. The Fête du conte (Storytelling Festival), held during the day, offers a conference, workshops, and an open stage for a modest fee. The Nuit du conte (Storytelling Night), the flagship event of each edition, brings together several renowned storytellers for a two-part performance, offering the audience total immersion in the world of oral narrative.

2025 Edition: The 40th Anniversary

The 2025 edition celebrated the 40th anniversary of Paroles en Festival with an exceptional program from May 10 to June 7, 2025, featuring 40 performances and 40 artists across six departments of the region. The Fête and Nuit du conte were held on Saturday, May 17, 2025, in Aubenas, notably featuring Gigi Bigot and Pépito, Matéo Jérôme Aubineau, and Luigi Rignanese for the show "Carpe Diem: les inédits," two original creations of 1h15 each.

AMAC, guardian of spoken arts

AMAC, an association founded in 1981 by Agnès Chavanon, coordinates and promotes storytelling performances, trains professionals, and raises public awareness of spoken arts and orality. Through Paroles en Festival, AMAC has championed artistic parity, professional quality, diversity of forms, and traveling programming in large venues as well as small villages for four decades.