MESSAGE FROM PIERRE AUDI: CANCELLATION OF PUBLIC PERFORMANCES

Dear festival-goers,

The instructions announced by the president of France on April 13 will, unfortunately, not allow the 72nd Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and its pre-festival, Aix en Juin, to proceed as planned from 6 June to 18 July 2020, and compel us to cancel all public performances.
This decision was very difficult for us to take; but above all, it was necessary to guarantee the safety of our audiences, our artists and the Festival team.

We are studying the possibility, if conditions permit, of offering a presence for the Festival and its 2020 productions through online streaming services.
The cancellation of a festival like Aix deprives the public of a unique opportunity to experience live the result of years of creativity by artists from all disciplines working closely with the teams of the festival to provide a celebration of music and theatre like no other.

We must also ensure the continuity of the Festival for future years, as this future is currently at risk. We have therefore created a Support Fund for the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence to this end.
Some of you have already expressed the desire to support the Festival by waiving reimbursement of your tickets, as a donation to the Festival. I thank those individuals wholeheartedly, and would suggest that all audience members of the 2020 edition consider this form of support. (These donations are eligible for an income tax reduction of 66% of the amount of purchase.)

In the next few days, all those who have purchased tickets for the Festival’s 2020 edition will receive a message explaining the various methods of donation and of reimbursement.

I wish to extend my deepest heartfelt thanks to everyone who has invested so much love, care and hard work in preparing this edition. I want to thank our public funders, both national and regional; our sponsors; and our many coproducers, for their support and understanding—and last but not least, our public, drawn from the whole world.

We are now fully focused on ensuring that future editions will live up to the promises of the 2020 Festival d’Aix.

May you and your loved ones be safe and healthy.

Pierre Audi