Spotlight on Harold David

How do you perceive the fringe model evolving and how is Festival Off Avignon responding to those changes?

We are currently at a turning point in the evolution of the festival itself. Not only our festival but the landscape of the festivals and touring in France. We often claim to have a cultural exception compared to other countries around the world. Our cultural model relies heavily on significant public investment in the arts, which contrasts with the approach in Anglo-Saxon countries, where the system is much more focused on private funding.

However, what we’re seeing in 2025 is not just a reduction in funding, but a complete absence of funds for culture in certain regions. For instance, in the Pays de la Loire region, which was once one of the most dynamic in terms of culture, the cultural budget has been cut by 73%. This means that the balance that was once supported by regional funding is now collapsing. This is just one example, but the situation is similar across the country. You can’t imagine how many festivals have already announced that they will not be holding another edition in 2025 due to these cuts.

Some festivals will finish forever this year and some said that they will take a break for 2025 and maybe they will start again in 2026. And so, the paradox is that as the crisis deepens for everyone in France, our festival continues to grow even more. We never have had as many shows as we have now. Every year we have more venues which are opening their doors in this little city of Avignon. It's a medieval type city, we're surrounded by walls. So, we have 18,000 people living inside the city and we have during the summer almost 250 different rooms for venues.

This year, we hosted 1,600 shows, performing nearly every day. I’m confident that within the next three years, this number will reach around 2,000. As it becomes increasingly difficult for companies and producers to secure touring opportunities, they are more eager to participate in our festival, seeing it as one of the last remaining gateways to survival in such a challenging crisis. This growth is beyond our control.

How does the Festival Off Avignon position itself in relation to other festivals and organizations in your community? Do you see opportunities for collaboration or ways to complement and bounce off each other’s strengths?

For quite some time, the Festival Off Avignon has served as a platform for selling shows, making it a significant marketplace—though some hesitate to use that term when discussing the performing arts. In France, there is often discomfort around the intersection of money and art, unlike in the U.S. or the U.K., where such discussions are more commonplace. However, the reality is that over the past 25 years, the festival has evolved into a crucial hub for show exchanges and collaborations. It is now the most important gathering for performing arts professionals in France, attracting around 2,000 buyers from across the country. Our relationship with national and French festivals is largely service-oriented, helping them discover performances and curate their programs.

We don’t really have partnerships in the traditional sense, as there is no true equivalent to our festival in France. We are the only ones doing what we do, in the way that we do it. I realized this even more when I attended the International Fringe Congress in Stockholm this summer, where I met representatives from fringes all over the world—many from the United States. I was surprised to see just how widespread and well-integrated the concept of a fringe festival is in Anglo-Saxon countries, whereas in France, it remains much less developed. Officially, there is only one recognized fringe festival in France—ours.

There is a major organization in France called France Festivals, which brings together many festivals. However, we cannot be a member because we are a fringe festival. They do not consider us a "real" festival since we don’t have an official artistic direction or oversee the creation of shows. This has always been a challenge for fringe festivals—they argue that because we don’t directly manage artistic creation, we don’t fit the definition of a festival. The reality, however, is that we do have curators within our festival, but rather than a single curator deciding the entire program, our structure is more open and decentralized.

We have 150 different curators—the venue owners—who each program their own spaces with various shows. So, while we do have curators, they operate independently, and this decentralized model is part of what defines our festival.

That said, we are now building stronger connections—not just with festivals, but more importantly, with networks of buyers and programmers working at regional and national levels. This shift has been driven by the growing difficulties faced by these professionals. When people are struggling, they become more open to collaboration, and the need to survive fosters new partnerships.

So, to answer your question, on a national level, development is still quite limited. When I became co-chairman of the festival two years ago, there was no international development strategy in place. We had no partnerships with festivals worldwide—but that has been changing, as I’ve worked extensively to build those connections.

I’ve traveled widely, visiting many places to establish partnerships, and as a result, we are now part of the global fringe network. We have developed strong relationships with Edinburgh and Adelaide, the two largest fringe festivals. We’ve established real agreements for cooperation and share a common vision on how to support each other and strengthen our partnerships.

Additionally, we are now beginning to build connections with more traditional, curated festivals that are not part of the fringe network but are increasingly interested in collaborating with the Festival Off Avignon. They are eager to work with us because they want to promote artists from their countries or showcase selected artists and companies they support. As a result, we are now establishing numerous partnerships with international festivals and cultural institutions. For example, we have formed collaborations with Korea and Romania, including a partnership with the FNT Festival in Romania and the Busan International Performing Arts Festival in Korea. Additionally, we have agreements with the Shanghai International Festival and the Wuzhen Theatre Festival in China. These partnerships are helping us expand our network and create new opportunities for artistic exchange on a global scale. For the past two years, we have introduced a "Guest of Honor" program, where we invite a country to take part in the festival. In 2025, that honor will go to Brazil, and we are now establishing connections with institutions and festivals across the country.

Our vision for international development is to solidify our place on the global festival scene. We aim to be a key destination where buyers from around the world come to discover new artists. To support this, two years ago, we launched a special initiative to attract the next generation of creators to the festival. The concept is simple: we partner with universities, conservatories, and performing arts schools worldwide to connect emerging artists with industry professionals and opportunities.

Each year, we invite delegations of young students from various institutions who are still in their early studies to have an immersive experience at the festival. This allows them to discover the festival from the inside and learn that it exists as a welcoming space for when they're ready to present their work on the international stage. We host 10 to 12 student delegations each year, and we believe this exposure will inspire them to return in the future with their own productions. As this new generation of creators becomes familiar with the festival and sees it as a supportive environment for their work, it will attract more professional buyers, who will recognize the potential for fresh and innovative projects.

To wrap up, our ambition is to establish ourselves as a key destination for international touring. Currently, we host only a small number of foreign delegates—around a hundred—which is minimal compared to other major fringe festivals. We are far from reaching our potential in this area. It’s not that people aren't interested in the festival or that the experience for buyers is poor; the issue is that the festival hasn’t yet been recognized as a primary place for international engagement. Our challenge now is to change that perception and position ourselves as a must-visit destination for international buyers.

The French cultural network has historically been one of the most well-developed in the world, yet its participation in ISPA has been limited. What motivated you to join, and how do you see ISPA complementing the work of France's cultural institutions?

The French market was one of the most significant in Europe, thanks to the cultural policies implemented after World War II. You can’t imagine how many venues there are in such a small country that made touring possible. However, as I mentioned, the venues still exist, but the funding has dried up.

French companies, producers, and artists haven’t traditionally been focused on international touring, as the domestic market has been so strong for many years. However, this has left them less accustomed to thinking globally. I often speak with Canadian professionals who share that they have always had to support international touring because their domestic market is too small to sustain their artists. For them, exporting talent is essential for survival, as the market simply isn't large enough to support them.

I am in charge of international development. We are committed to expanding our global reach and fostering partnerships worldwide. ISPA is a wonderful place to meet colleagues, partners and to imagine the future together. That's what I expected from my participation. I know that it's only when you meet people, you can really imagine some projects, cooperation and future. Everything is possible when you have more than 560 professionals together. For us it's not only having some partners, but it's also changing our way of thinking of work. The networking is not so developed in France and especially here in the Festival Off Avignon. And so that's something that we have to learn now from some organizations, not only on the capacity to meet other people, but also to see how it's possible to make a strong network.

I’ve also been reflecting on the future role of our organization. It won’t just be about organizing and coordinating the festival; we aim to become a true platform for exchange and a think tank that imagines the future of performing arts. During the three weeks of the festival, we bring together a wide range of professionals, with everyone who matters in France’s performing arts scene present at the Festival Off Avignon. I’m convinced that we have a key role to play in shaping the structural landscape of performing arts in France, but we’re still figuring out how to do it effectively.

I believe that my participation in the ISPA Congress and membership provided valuable insights into practices we can adapt to our own system, allowing us to play a similar role in supporting the performing arts. I’ve read about why ISPA was created and how it’s organized to support the global production and creation chain in the performing arts. I’m confident that, at our scale, the Festival Off Avignon can play a similar, important role.