A simple helping hand to get started
Go to the theater, the cinema, a concert or treat yourself to a book: these cultural moments change a week, sometimes a trajectory. However, for many young people, the cost remains a barrier, real or perceived, especially when you start going out alone or with friends. It is to remove this obstacle that the Culture Pass was launched in 2021, a government system accessible via an application. The principle is clear: credit young people aged 17 with 50 euros, then from 18 to 21 years old with 150 euros, in order to finance cultural experiences.
Behind this “kitty”, there is the idea of a first step, without pressure. Laurence Tison-Vuillaume, president of Pass Culture, sums up the issue: “ The important goal of the Culture pass in terms of public policy is to promote cultural diversity, all this wealth of our country HAS”. The application then becomes an entry point: we look at what exists near us, we try an outing, we test a style, we go back. Culture is no longer an “extra” reserved for certain people, but a habit that is built.
The price, a brake… and a lever to discover
The surveys carried out among young people show it: the cost very quickly becomes one of the concerns. HAS” In the surveys that we can conduct… the price, the cost of culture appears immediately in their responses “, explains Laurence Tison-Vuillaume. But there is nuance: this brake is sometimes linked to a perception, because France already offers many free services, depending on the location, ages or events. Precisely, the Culture Pass does not just finance: it also highlights what is accessible free of charge, and helps to better orient ourselves.
This approach changes the way we choose. We don’t limit ourselves to a single cultural form, we explore. HAS” Young people… they like a novel that is a little difficult to access as well as a novel that is easier to access. Any type of show “, recalls the president of the system. The idea is not to prioritize tastes, but to increase opportunities for encounters: a one-man show, an exhibition, an indoor film, a local concert, an artistic workshop… What counts is momentum and curiosity.
The Culture Pass then plays a triggering role. It reduces the fear of “spending for nothing”, which sometimes prevents you from daring for the first time. And once through the door, the experience does the rest: we discover a place, we make a city our own, we share a moment, we build benchmarks. HAS” The Culture Pass is there for precisely that. To put your foot in the stirrup “, insists Laurence Tison-Vuillaume.
The Culture Pass credits €50 to 17 years old and €150 from 18 to 21 years old, via an application which also promotes free offers near you.
A journey from sixth grade to adulthood
The Culture Pass is not only aimed at young adults. It also concerns 15-17 year olds, with a different logic: funding then goes through schools and teachers, for cultural and artistic activities in class or with the class. A way of not waiting for complete autonomy to create habits. Because the earlier we start, the more we continue.
On this point, Laurence Tison-Vuillaume is very clear: “ What is very important is to be on the journey ultimately, from sixth grade to adulthood. Because the earlier we start having cultural habits, the more we continue with them HAS”. The Culture Pass is part of this continuity: giving a first collective experience in middle school, then allowing freedom in high school and after. The common thread is progressive discovery, as close as possible to the territories.
This notion of proximity is essential. Culture is not limited to the big stages of the metropolises: it also lives in media libraries, community cinemas, municipal halls, village festivals, local museums, artists’ studios. The system aims to make this local wealth visible, so that each young person can create their own itinerary, without having to “go up to Paris” or spend significant sums on transport.
Well-being, confidence, skills: culture as breathing
Beyond the outings, the Culture Pass carries an ambition of well-being and emancipation. Access to culture, recalls its president, brings “ an openness to the world and a joy of living with their immediate surroundings HAS”. Because culture is rarely experienced alone: we go there with friends, a class, a brother, a sister, a parent. And even when we go alone, we then talk about it, we recommend, we compare, we share.
This breathing plays a valuable role during adolescence. HAS” The cultural outing… it’s a breath of fresh air. It’s a time when we reconnect with ourselves and others HAS”. In a period where everything is accelerating – orientation, exams, social networks, group pressure – culture offers another tempo. A film can put words to an emotion. A show can open a discussion. A book can give perspective. An exhibition can trigger a vocation.
The benefits also go further, even into everyday skills. Laurence Tison-Vuillaume reports what teachers and educational communities say: culture “ also gives a lot of confidence in themselves HAS”. It also evokes skills that develop with experience: listening to others, teamwork, ability to express oneself. In other words, “soft skills” which are used at school, in social life, then in the professional world. Culture is not a luxury: it is living learning.
A useful application… even when you’re no longer old enough
The Culture Pass is often associated with your credit, but the application has a broader use: it helps you identify events and cultural places around you. Even if you are no longer eligible, it can serve as a geolocated diary to find an exhibition, a cinema screening, a literary encounter, a show. A simple way to reconnect with local culture, with family or friends.
Basically, the device recalls a reassuring idea: curiosity has no age, and access can be facilitated by concrete tools. By giving an initial boost to young people, the Culture Pass nourishes a dynamic that goes beyond the individual: rooms that fill up, bookstores that welcome new readers, artists who meet a more diverse audience, territories that tell their stories differently. And when a generation gets into the habit of pushing open the door of a theater or a media library, the whole of society gains in connection, in imagination and in confidence in the future.
