Bring in the British artists, test the spectators on the spot or make traffic more fluid: one month away from the Avignon and Aix-en-Provence festivals, the ticket offices are taken by storm but the organizers have to juggle the health challenges.
Read also: The Avignon Festival refuses to lower the curtain
The Festival d'Avignon, the most important theater event in the world with that of Edinburgh, and the Festival d'Aix, one of the most prestigious for the lyric, welcome each year a large number of foreign artists. However, the variants identified for the first time in the United Kingdom, South Africa or Brazil, and the introduction by France of restrictions such as quarantine are a headache for the organizers. "
We have a real difficulty in bringing in South African teams, in particular
," Paul Rondin, deputy director of the Festival d'Avignon (July 5-25), told AFP. "
We are in the process of organizing the quarantine of these teams. For example, the team of Brett Bailey (South African playwright, Editor's note) will be confined for ten days in two lodgings near Avignon. They can be accommodated and rehearse while being completely isolated,
”he explains.
The same uncertainty arises for teams from Great Britain and in particular for the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) conducted by the great British conductor Simon Rattle, who will
conduct
Wagner's
opera
Tristan and Isolde
in Aix. “
We will adapt to this new constraint,
” Jérôme Brunetiere, secretary general of the Festival d'Aix (June 30-July 25), told AFP. “
The Ministry of Culture is helping us to simplify the administrative procedures (...). We will respect the restrictions while finding the necessary conditions for the work, because if artists arrive two weeks late, the whole show is compromised,
”he adds.
Read also: For Roselyne Bachelot, the Printemps de Bourges, Avignon and the festivals will take place this summer
Ticket offices taken by storm
For the Festival d'Aix, "
over a standard week in May, we sold twice as many tickets as what we sell on average in previous years,
" says Jérôme Brunetiere.
After the ticket office opened in February - a sale which took into account a limited capacity - the organizers offered all the places following the latest government announcements.
For the Avignon Festival, which opens its online ticket office on Saturday, there is also a "
surge of requests
", rejoices Paul Rondin. "
I have only one fear, which is that we will not be allowed to raise the gauge to 100% (scheduled for July 1)
", he says, specifying that he was asked to the festival to put on sale on June 5 50% of the ticket office as a precaution, then the other half from July 1. In Avignon, which is transformed into a “
city-theater
” every July with alleys teeming with people, the town hall and the prefect work with the “
in
” and “
off
”
festivals.
”To set up barnums across the city to test and take the temperature of festival-goers. "
A traffic logic must also allow festival-goers to follow their route without making huge loops and prevent queues in front of theaters from bothering passers-by,
" said Paul Rondin. Some streets will be closed to cars, except residents.
As for the health pass for places exceeding 1,000 seats, it concerns, in Avignon, the famous Cour d'honneur of the Palais des Papes, and in Aix, the Grand Théâtre de Provence and the Théâtre de l'Archevêché. For the Cour d'honneur, the reception staff was doubled to facilitate the three controls: the health pass or the results of PCR tests, the control of bags and tickets ”, explains the deputy director of Avignon. As for Aix, there will be two entrances instead of one for the Théâtre de l'Archevêché and circulation plans inside the rooms to avoid the “funnel effect”, indicates Jérôme Brunetiere.
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