France’s Avignon theater festival canceled due to pandemic
Artists of the so-called “OFF” Avignon Theater Festival promoting their shows in front of the Popes palace (Palais de Papes) in Avignon on July 8, 2014. Image:AFP/Boris Horvat
The annual theater festival in the French city of Avignon, the world’s most famous celebration of drama, has been canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak, organizers said Monday.
“The conditions have not been met to allow the 74th edition to take place,” organizers said in a statement. The festival had been set for July 3 to 23.
The organizers said that they had taken note of an address to the nation by President Emmanuel Macron earlier Monday on the coronavirus pandemic.
He said a gradual easing of France’s lockdown could be allowed from May 11 but the big festivals could not take place until mid-July at the earliest, while cinemas and theaters must remain closed for now.
The virus outbreak has ravaged France’s glittering spring and summer cultural calender, with the Cannes film festival also not taking place as planned in May. RGA
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