France's Avignon festival opens with calls to block far right and save culture

RFI

28 June 2024 at 5:29 am·2-min read

Organisers of the annual Avignon Theatre Festival have reiterated a call to block the far right in the upcoming French legislative elections, which start on Sunday – a day after the event opens.

Festival artistic director Tiago Rodrigues said it was a time to "defend democracy" at a press conference calling for a united front against extreme-right political groups.

The far-right National Rally is polling strong ahead of the vote, which will be held on 30 June and 7 July at same same time the festival will be running.

As a Portuguese citizen, Rodrigues cannot take part in the vote but he said it was part of his responsibility to "encourage everyone to vote".

Rodrigues said the festival embodied "democratic, popular, republican, environmentalist, feminist and anti-racist" values.

President Emmanuel Macron's decision to call the elections after dissolving parliament, following the RN's score in EU elections, prompted reactions from many in the cultural sector.

Representatives have organised rallies and petitions against the rise of the far right in recent weeks.

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As the son of a journalist forced to leave Portugal in the 1960s "to escape the persecution of the fascist dictatorship" under António de Oliveira Salazar, Rodrigues said he is well aware of what rise of the far right could mean.

He referred to France as "a beacon for the cultural world" that needed to be protected, and warned that financial support for the culture sector – which employs hundreds of people coming from France and across Europe – could be under threat.

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