France Festivals

Two publications soon to be published on
« les nouveaux territoires des festivals »

France Festivals organized on November 16th and 17th, 2006 in Le Mans (Abbey of Epau) a symposium on the new territories for festivals. Two publications will appear in 2007 based on the principal issues covered during the symposium :

A scientific study from Emmanuel Négrier to be published in May 2007, a joint publication of France Festivals and the publisher Michel de Maule

France Festivals ordered a study from a researcher at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), Emmanuel Négrier, on festivals in France that are the target today of debates on their number, their role in cultural activities, their importance in terms of creations and artistic employment. The significant increase of these events in the last thirty years is equaled only by the scarcity of scientific work done to measure this growth. This study highlights the difficulties faced by music and dance festivals in France. It combines a quantitative approach through an inventory of recent changes in the principal indicators, and a qualitative analysis of the history of these unique events. This study identifies seven types of festivals, which points to differing realities and the shared issues for the future.

Table of contents :
> Festivals and the decentralization (age, status, attendance numbers, promotion,
   range and repertories)
> Festival partnerships (local municipalities, urban regions, departments,
   regions, national government, private sponsors)
> The economics of festivals: sources of revenue (subsidies, ticket and
   merchandise sales, private funding) and expenses (artistic, administrative,
   technical, publicity), cultural and artistic employment for the festivals, economic
   impact
> Strategic choices: program territories, pricing, education initiatives, the role of
   contemporary creations, the recording and distribution of performances,
   cooperation networks.


Symposium proceedings, published in partnership with the magazine La Scène

La Scène magazine, a partner with France Festivals for the symposium on New Territories for Festivals, will co-publish the symposium proceedings in the June 2007 copy of the magazine.

This publication, available upon request from France Festivals, will present a synthesis of the debates that brought together numerous people on the following themes :
> Festivals at the heart of decentralization and the reorganization of regions and
   local governments
> Programming : keys to attracting new audiences
> Managing a festival : an obstacle course
> Promotion, recording, music publishing: the role of festivals in all of that ?
> Cooperation, sharing, what kind of future for festival networks ?


Publication