Avignon Online, the solidarity project, which recreated the festival online

Walk on the pavement of the city, attend a show in the open air, or to discover the parade at a street corner... That's the daily life that had to wait several thousands of lovers of the theatre in a month, on the occasion of the Festival d'avignon. Finally canceled due to the coronavirus, the event may soon find a second life thanks to a project of solidarity online.

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Avignon Online was born in the minds of its designers on April 13. Emmanuel Macron then comes to announce that there will be no festivals until at least mid-July. In the aftermath, Marine Azout, actor, writer and stage director, and his companion, the developer Fabien Brossier, learn the cancellation of the Avignon Festival. "We are very involved in the world of the show and we wanted to do something to help the professionals and the artists," says Fabien Brossier.

The idea is to restore to the public the want to return to rooms once the health crisis will be behind us

Fabien Brossier, entrepreneur and developer of Avignon Online

The two partners imagine, therefore, the creation of a festival virtual, in which visitors could wander and discover the programming of the different theaters participating in the event. With the help of four other people, including two from the world of art, a developer and an illustrator, they decide to replicate online the streets of Avignon, in the form of the equivalent of a Google Maps. "The idea is to restore to the public the want to return to rooms once the health crisis will be behind us", explains Fabien Brossier.

Recreate the atmosphere of the festival

The event, which was held from 3 to 23 July 2020, each year attracts nearly 700,000 visitors in the City of the Popes. A lack of significant revenue for the city since the economic benefits are estimated at 100 million, of which € 25 million generated by the In, the major festival. The cancellation of the Off, which runs parallel to the Festival d'avignon, of risk to it lead to between "15 and 20 million euros of losses", indicated to the AFP the president of the Off Pierre Beffeyte. A hard blow for the thousands of artists and technicians, consisting for a large part of the entertainment.

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in The course of their wandering virtual Avignon Online, users will be able to move around in the different neighbourhoods of the city. In each, it will be possible to visit theatres and discover their programming, as well as promotional videos of the shows offered by the institution. "This can be a video, a presentation, a public reading... all creative content that the company wants to put on this space". Capsules scattered around the city will allow spectators to learn more about the monuments that surround them.

Presented in the form of an interactive map, Avignon Online gives the opportunity to users to explore the theaters, and discover their programming. Avignon Online

other capsules will be about it is dedicated to the small anecdotes, in the form of quotes, in which the artists will share their stories about the city. "A director can, for example, tell "When I had the idea for this show, I was sitting on this place in Avignon"". Finally, as to the real festival, parades will parade along the streets. They will allow companies to highlight other content on topics set in advance. Thanks to this reconstitution, the collective behind Avignon Online hope to revive the festival and highlight the atmosphere of the city, "at risk of suffering the cancellation".

A platform completely free of charge

on the side of The artists, the project aims to restore their visibility among festival-goers, but also professionals. Once registered on the platform and their programming validated by the theatres, the companies have the possibility to share content. A nice showcase for the artists, who will hope to be spotted by programmers for the coming year. The collective prefers, for the moment, the professionals who were to participate in the edition 2020 of Avignon, but did not rule out expanding the project to other professionals later on.

The artists are already in enough financial difficulty at this time, so we do not want to make them pay

Fabien Brossier, entrepreneur and developer of Avignon Online

For the moment, the returns of the companies are positive, ensures Fabien Brossier. "But this is still too local", he observes. "In order for the platform to work, it is necessary that there is a majority of the world. Without which one can not help the artists and give them visibility". For the moment, 380 users, including 170 attendees and 210 professionals have signified their interest in the project, through a pre-registration form available on the home page of the site.

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The opening of the Avignon Online is scheduled for 26 June for professionals and the 3rd of July for festival-goers. The platform will be completely free, as explained by Fabien Brossier: "The artists are already in enough financial difficulty at this time, so we do not want to make them pay". Completely independent of the Avignon Festival, which has, however, encouraged in his project, the small team has also sent a request for grants for its funding.

The site of Avignon Online: https://www.avignon-online.com/

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