When is Festival d’Avignon ?
If you don’t know the Festival d’Avignon, if you know how famous it is but have never dared to go there, if you are from the Vaucluse region but refuse to come to Avignon for fear of the crowd of theatre-goers … then we are very sad for you because the Festival d’Avignon, which takes place this year from the 7th to the 30th of July 2022, is an exceptional major event!
Let’s beat the preconceived notions right away:
– “the Avignon Festival is only for intellectuals”… this is not true! First of all, there is nothing wrong with loving to lift your soul and your spirit! The Festival is nevertheless open to all audiences… young and old. From laughter with numerous comedians to more sensitive reflections on our contemporary world or more classical texts by authors, the festival is for everyone! It is a festival that unfolds from the street to theatres.
– “It is impossible to move around during the festival!” Yes, there are many visitors during the festival period, but the city deploys many means to allow you to park your vehicles outside the city. And let’s face it, all cities that are concerned about their environmental impact tend to have fewer cars in them! So take the trains, buses and shuttles available to you and walk a little more! This is an opportunity to discover the City of the Popes in a new light. Take the opportunity to look up, turn your eyes to the many posters or to the architectural elements that the city abounds in.
– “The city is dirty and all these posters make the streets ugly”… As far as ugliness is concerned, this is obviously subjective. We like this festive atmosphere and this display of culture in the city, but we can understand that it disturbs… (it only lasts 3 weeks in a year!) A little tolerance would not hurt though, because posters are much less unpleasant than the illegal dumping or cans that some people throw 5m away from the bins all the time! If the city was as clean as it is during the festival, it would be wonderful!
Many commitments have been made, such as
– reducing the use of paper and integrating environmentally friendly criteria into all communication media;
– organising a coherent and collaborative management of cleanliness (city), collection (Grand Avignon), and sorting;
– create the conditions for clean travel;
– integrate environmental criteria into the services and promotional accessories;
– reduce water and energy consumption;
– reduce noise pollution and improve air quality;
– communicating on the environmental approach and training the various participants…
Those commitments are probably not visible enough or even respected. They may not be enough either, but let’s not forget that we are all responsible and all actors in our city!
So let’s not take advantage neither of a system that we risk running out of steam by charging for instance, prohibitive prices at the expense of quality! Be careful with the rental and accommodation companies… to welcome our tourists, we must also respect them!
