Saint-Maur en Toutes Libertés

Saint-Maur en Toutes Libertés: Artistic Freedom Celebrated

Saint-Maur en Toutes Libertés is a multidisciplinary performing arts festival organized by the City of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés (94100) in partnership with the Théâtre de Saint-Maur, located at 20 rue de la Liberté. This event, deeply embedded in the cultural life of the commune, offers a journey through the most inventive stage arts each year, with a particular focus on theatrical forms that appeal to all audiences, from the youngest to the oldest.

Live Arts in Freedom

The festival's title — Saint-Maur en Toutes Libertés — is a program in itself. It affirms the desire to keep all artistic doors open: string puppetry, shadow puppetry, street arts, storytelling performances, object theatre, performances... The festival hosts French and international companies that explore, with talent and originality, the boundary between popular art and demanding creation.

Among the emblematic artistic forms of the festival is puppet theatre in all its diversity. The Compagnie des Skowiés, specialists in string puppets and shadow puppetry, has participated in several editions with shows drawing from Armenian and Slavic traditions. Their character Youri, a string puppet of striking expressiveness, has become one of the festival's beloved figures. These shows, which blend fantasy, live music, and poetic storytelling, illustrate the festival's ability to create universal emotions through age-old artistic forms.

The Théâtre de Saint-Maur, the Festival's Hub

The Théâtre de Saint-Maur, located on rue de la Liberté — a name that resonates with the festival's title — is the beating heart of this event. This human-sized venue hosts the main performances, but the festival also spills out into the streets and public spaces of the town, transforming Saint-Maur-des-Fossés into a living stage. This "off-site" dimension is essential: it allows the festival to reach audiences who do not usually attend theatres and to make the entire town an artistic playground.

A Family-Friendly and Popular Festival

Saint-Maur en Toutes Libertés proudly embraces a resolutely family-friendly and popular vocation. The programming places a central focus on shows accessible to children and families, without sacrificing artistic quality. It is this alchemy — combining creative excellence with accessibility for all ages — that has built the festival's reputation over the years. Artistic workshops (introduction to puppetry, discovery of shadow puppetry) often complement the performance program, inviting the public to become participants themselves.

The City of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, a town of 80,000 inhabitants nestled in the loop of the Marne river, supports this festival as an essential tool for local cultural outreach and social cohesion among the residents of its various neighborhoods.