Last year the Avignon festival could not take place leaving many actors on the floor.
When it opens on Monday, the joy of entertainment professionals is increased tenfold despite the strict sanitary conditions.
Europe 1 went to take the pulse of the theaters in the heart of the city of the Popes.
It is one of the most emblematic festivals in French culture.
The Avignon festival is so anchored in the cultural agenda that in normal times, its start would not make the headlines.
However, on Monday morning, Europe 1 went to the seventy-fifth edition of the theater festival.
A very moving launch since last year the event was canceled.
"These encounters are powerful"
On this first holiday weekend, the streets of the city of the Popes come back to life.
But the most striking, it is the theaters, which are once again open, which are being prepared.
Monday evening, a play by Tchekhov opens the ball with Isabelle Huppert at the head of the bill.
Its director, Tiago Rodrigues, is jubilant.
"All workers in the entertainment world realize how powerful these meetings are. We are one of those who could not experience the festival at some point in history", he confides, moved. .
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In total, forty-six shows in 21 different places are included in the official program of In. The director of the festival, who is in his last edition at the head of the event, is on all fronts.
"The enthusiasm is all the greater since we were deprived of a festival last year. So this joy is commensurate with the sadness we have known", comments Olivier Py at the microphone of Europe 1 "We are back to our festival, it's wonderful!" He exclaims.
But there is also the Off festival.
From Monday, the actors will walk the streets to distribute leaflets, stick posters, attract spectators.
Because that's Avignon too: to make yourself known.
"We are very hungry and very eager"
"We have the impression that it is coming back to life, that it is a new era and that it is brand new. We are very hungry and very eager," explains one of the actors who comes to present three plays in a few days.
"Besides, it's my 16th Avignon and it's the first time that we've had so much potato to start the festival," he says.
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The festival nevertheless takes place under strict sanitary conditions.
Unlike the rest of France, the mask is theoretically compulsory in the most crowded streets and the health pass will be really compulsory to enter the main courtyard of the Palais des Papes.