Paris (AFP)

The Festival off d'Avignon, one of the largest theatrical events in the world, has announced that it will be held from July 7 to 31, hoping for a "revival" after the cancellation of the 2020 edition due to a pandemic.

The announcement comes as theaters in France have been closed since October 30, 2020 and still in the dark regarding the prospects of reopening.

"We are convinced that this 2021 festival is an essential festival for theaters, for companies, for artists, for the public, for communities, for restaurateurs, traders (...) we must succeed, ”said Sébastien Benedetto, the new president of the offspring during a press briefing organized on Tuesday via Zoom.

"The companies which were to come in 2020 and which will come in 2021 (...) really have the feeling that it is going to be a revival festival, they really need that", he added.

Mr. Benedetto said that it would be a "solidarity" edition and is aware of the possibility of restrictions in the summer: "If we go to a festival with gauges reduced to 60, 70% and constraints sanitary facilities, we will try to help the companies and the artists who come to this festival, "he said.

A professionalization fund created in 2017 will be expanded "to help as many artists as possible".

In July, an emergency fund financed to the tune of 800,000 euros by the State was also created for the festival, which is not subsidized unlike the Festival d'Avignon, known as the "in".

The economic impact of the two festivals on the City of the Popes, visited each July by 150,000 people, are estimated at around 100 million euros.

The pandemic was the occasion for the festival to launch a public consultation on the reforms to be made to this abundant event, sometimes criticized for the very large number of its shows, the exorbitant rents in the city and the precariousness of certain artists who are trying to find their way. luck every summer.

With nearly 1,500 shows, more than 1,000 companies and thousands of professionals, the off is the largest live performance market in France: nearly 20% of purchases of plays in France are made there.

A sort of "hub" like the Edinburgh festival "fringe".

© 2021 AFP