Solstice de Brangues

The Solstice de Brangues: Half a Century of Creation in the Heart of Dauphiné

Each year, around the summer solstice, the village of Brangues in Isère transforms into a major center for theatrical and poetic creation. The festival Du Solstice aux Rencontres de Brangues perpetuates a cultural tradition born in 1972, inseparable from the Château de Brangues, the home where the playwright, poet, and diplomat Paul Claudel lived and worked from 1927 until his death in 1955.

An Exceptional Literary Heritage

It was in 1927 that Paul Claudel acquired the Château de Brangues and its seventeen-hectare estate, perched on a height overlooking the Rhône. Retired from diplomacy in 1936, he settled there permanently and composed some of his most significant works. A man of letters, poet, playwright, and committed Christian, Claudel made Brangues an intellectual hub where he welcomed artists and thinkers. In accordance with his wishes, he is buried in the estate's park, and his tomb is still visible.

The first Rencontres de Brangues (Brangues Encounters) were established in 1972 on the initiative of Pierre Claudel, Renée Nantet Claudel, and Jacqueline Veinstein, with the support of the family. The actor and director Jean-Louis Barrault, a close friend of Claudel and the legendary creator of Le Soulier de satin, became its first president in 1974, immediately establishing the festival's leading theatrical ambition.

A Festival Reimagined Under the Direction of Christian Schiaretti

In 2000, the Claudel family entrusted the organization of the Encounters to the Association des Nouvelles Rencontres de Brangues, presided over by Christian Schiaretti, then director of the Théâtre National Populaire in Villeurbanne. Under his artistic direction, the festival gained new scope, combining theater, poetry, music, and heritage in a demanding and generous program.

The festival now unfolds in two complementary phases. The Solstice week (around June 19-26) offers free traveling performances throughout the Balcons du Dauphiné region—in villages, museums, and community halls—to bring artistic creation closer to the residents. The Rencontres de Brangues themselves, held on the last weekend of June, bring together theater performances, readings, concerts, conferences, and workshops at the Domaine Paul Claudel, in the incomparable setting of the château and its park.

A Program Balancing Claudelian Tradition and Contemporary Creation

The festival's program intertwines the legacy of Paul Claudel—readings of his texts, stagings of his plays, reflections on his work—with contemporary creation, featuring commissions from living authors, bold productions, and hybrid forms blending theater, music, and poetry. The Prix Paul Claudel, created as part of the festival, annually awards an unpublished dramatic text, a dramatized reading of which is one of the highlights of the Encounters.

Among the regularly invited artists and companies are renowned actors and directors from French public theater, as well as young regional companies. The festival also hosts musicians, poets, and thinkers for encounters and debates that foster a lively reflection on the place of literature and performing arts in contemporary society.

Strong Territorial Anchoring

Co-produced by the Association des Nouvelles Rencontres de Brangues and the Communauté de communes des Balcons du Dauphiné, the festival benefits from the support of the Department of Isère, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, and the Ministry of Culture. It plays an essential role in the cultural and tourist influence of this rural area in northern Isère, between Lyon and Chambéry, attracting a loyal and curious audience each year in a remarkable natural and heritage setting.