EAC Practice Workshops

Since 2021, the Festival d'Avignon has been organising workshops to discover the technical professions at La FabricA du Festival d'Avignon. Each year, almost 600 participants from around twenty schools and ten specialised establishments take part in the various workshops on offer for aged 9 and over. Accompanied by professionals, young people discover these behind-the-scenes professions through hands-on experience. It's a new way of looking at the world of theatre, and one that will help them become informed spectators!

In 2026, 144 workshops will be held for more than 550 participants from around 20 schools, as well as organisations working in the social, accessibility and health sectors.

The workshops will take place from 21 to 30 January 2026.

Five workshops are on offer:

• Stage machinery: setting up the stage for a show before the actors arrive,

• Lighting: creating the lighting for a show using the lighting model,

• Sound: try your hand at the job of sound manager,

• Video: learn how to insert video on all media,

• Costumes: discover the skills of costume designers, dressmakers, dressmakers, decorators and milliners.

Since 2017, the Festival d’Avignon has organised reading workshops in schools all over the region (elementary schools, colleges, and secondary schools), in partnership with the École régionale d’acteurs de Cannes et Marseille. Student-actors in residence at the FabricA share their love for the practice of theatre, using public reading as a starting point. The goal is to create a sensitive, fun, and personal approach to literature and theatre, and to develop oral skills and teach the students how to handle their emotions. Over 1,350 students have already enjoyed this programme.

Doing artistic and cultural education on Instagram is possible! In 2021, the health crisis has forced us to adapt certain projects. The Voix Haute project was born from the reinvention of read-aloud workshops. Renewed each year, the Festival offers high school students the opportunity to prepare for the French Baccalaureate oral exam and to experience the pleasure of reading aloud, while at the same time raising their awareness of theatre and great texts in line with the Festival's artistic axes and their school programme. This proposal can be part of a journey of discovery of the Avignon Festival in order to prepare the visit of a group to the next edition in July. It can also be an opportunity to discover the theatre and the Festival d'Avignon for groups and individuals.

The participants are at La FabricA or on Instagram simultaneously on one side and on the other of the screens to practice together the mise en voix accompanied by theatre and animation professionals. It is a hybrid and international event to raise awareness of theatre, foundational texts and reading in an extracurricular time. Through the live feed on Instagram, the students communicate with other students living in France or abroad.

With the arrival of Tiago Rodrigues at the head of the Festival and his project to put a language in the spotlight. The "Voix Haute" 2023 project is dedicated to the English language. Thus, one of the days will be dedicated to reading in the language of Shakespeare.