The AF&C association invites the new Minister of Culture to the Distribution Conference to address the challenges of live performance.
AVIGNON – a few months before its 60th anniversary edition, the Off Festival of Avignon, through the Avignon Festival and Companies (AF&C) association, extends an official invitation to the new Minister of Culture, Catherine Pégard. The organization invites her to join the Distribution Conference on July 7, 9, and 10 to discuss the profound crises affecting the live performance sector.
After congratulating the minister on her appointment, AF&C aims to engage her in the crucial issues threatening one of the world’s largest live performance festivals. The invitation calls for urgent consultation to preserve the French cultural ecosystem.
A cultural giant facing multiple threats
The Off Avignon Festival is a major economic and artistic hub. With over 1,800 performances, 350,000 spectators, more than 1.6 million tickets sold, and the presence of 10,000 professionals each year, it reflects the strengths and vulnerabilities of the sector. AF&C highlights current challenges, including:
– A distribution crisis affecting the circulation of works. – A fragile economic model due to disengagement by some local authorities, reduced state funding, and challenges to the intermittent employment system. – The imperative of ecological transition creating new constraints. – Rising costs of production. – Growing threats to artistic diversity and freedom of creation.
The FONPEPS, a major point of concern
One of the main concerns is the National Fund for Employment in the Entertainment Industry (FONPEPS). AF&C previously alerted the former minister, Rachida Dati, about the risks of a reform that weakens independent creation. The association criticizes the decree of December 30, 2025, which it believes distorts the fund’s primary purpose of promoting employment. Budgetarily, the 2026 finance law reduced the FONPEPS allocation to 39 million euros, below the estimated annual needs of 60 million. This budget cut jeopardizes the creation and hiring capacities of small and medium production structures, impacting artistic diversity.
A call for consultation to defend cultural exception
Beyond financial and structural aspects, AF&C emphasizes the societal mission of live art as a “bulwark against the rise of extremes” and an essential factor for societal cohesion. Amid a crisis affecting both the public and private sectors, the association deems a “cross-sector consultation” essential, with the Ministry of Culture playing a central role.
The invitation to Catherine Pégard is more than just a formality. It signals a call for dialogue and action to collectively build sustainable solutions and safeguard the French cultural exception. The press release is co-signed by Laurent Domingos and Raymond Yana, co-presidents, and Harold David, AF&C’s managing director.
The full press release is available for download (https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/yfkiblz996kokv6pzcyf9/CP-10-mars.pdf?rlkey=l0ppheoauqjpzk23snubo7bif&st=auxglip4&dl=0).
