"Culture here is not and has never been a policy like any other. It has always kept at bay all forms of regressions, of impoverishment, of shrinking of thought", declared in his inaugural speech, Cédric Van Styvendael, the socialist mayor of Villeurbanne.
At his side, on the forecourt of the famous National Popular Theater (TNP), the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot praised a cultural life "extremely intense in the territories".
"When I arrived at the Ministry of Culture, I said that I was going to be the Minister of Artists and Territories. Here, I make this commitment a reality," she added, briefly interrupted by intermittent entertainment workers. .
Intermittents from the show demonstrate at the official launch of Villeurbanne as the capital of French culture 2022, January 7, 2022 OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE AFP
The opening of this event, which is the first French version of the label of the "European Capitals of Culture", symbolically took place in the courtyard of a primary school, in reference to the spirit of youth expressed by the municipality in his candidacy.
The title was awarded to him by the ministry last spring, following a first pre-selection comprising nine cities - including the Greater Angoulême, Brest, Laval, Le Mans, Metz, Saint-Paul de Réunion and Sète.
The inaugural procession, freely mixing officials and the population, left in the early evening towards the Town Hall.
As the small crowd passed, limited for health reasons, children's faces were projected onto the walls of buildings, while their voices were broadcast through loudspeakers.
Everything was the result of workshops conducted with artists at Jules Ferry primary school, as a prelude to the "Minimixes", devices deployed throughout this cultural year in different establishments.
The program of the event should include 700 events, 200 concerts, 22 heritage trails and 30 festivals, including one entirely composed and organized by a group of one hundred young Villeurbannais aged 12 to 25.
Among these shows, new productions from the Théâtre du Soleil by Ariane Mnouchkine and the Royal de Luxe company.
Another significant event, the creation of the "largest musical axis in France" to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Fête de la Musique, on June 21: it will be a 6.5 km long route allowing the public to play. music between Villeurbanne and the Hôtel de Ville de Lyon.
© 2022 AFP