This Saturday, June 29, opening day of the 78th Avignon Festival (but also of part of the Off shows) and the eve of the first round of the legislative elections, the cultural world is mobilizing. From 2:30 p.m., a rally is planned in front of the Palais des Papes at the call of the National Federation of Unions of Entertainment, Cinema, Audiovisual and Cultural Action CGT-CGT Spectacle. Until July 21, more than 11,000 live performance artists and technicians (cumulatively at the In and Off festivals) are present in Avignon-sur-scène.
In a united press release titled “Culture, alert, danger” and subtitled “Let’s win in the streets and in the ballot boxes”, the signatories explain that “the Avignon Festival will be an important moment of discussion and mobilization of the profession(…) Our sectors defend values of solidarity, openness to the world and emancipation for all. We will fight step by step, in the streets and at the ballot box, to defend social progress. , public services, for all, against the obscurantism and withdrawal into oneself that the RN advocates(…) We are aware that the cultural sector like that of public audiovisual are strategic issues for the RN to spread their ideology of “national preference”, homophobic, anti-LBGTQ+, and other xenophobic theories We therefore call on people to join the national mobilizations against the far right on June 27 which will bring the question of unemployment insurance back to order. of the day.”
Also on June 29, an Agora is planned at 5:30 p.m. at the Cloître Saint Louis, on the same site which houses the offices of the Avignon Festival. On July 3, three days after the first round of legislative elections, and four days before the second round, another rally is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Place de l’Horloge, in Avignon. July 3 will also mark the official launch of the 58th Off Festival (1,666 shows in 141 theaters this year).
