Moselle. Phalsbourg Theater Festival: Boldness on Stage and Popular Balls

Boldness and novelty, Dany Kocher admits to taking a small risk in composing the Afec organized theater festival. "It's more unusual than other years," he specifies. The director of programming has traveled throughout the Grand Est region and as far as Paris, following his instinct, his desires and the recommendations made to him, to find the gems that will be offered to the public for ten days starting on August 24. He deserted the major festivals (Avignon, Aurillac, Chalon, etc.), to let himself be seduced by less prominent, perhaps more iconoclastic proposals, without being caught up in the current fashions. In short, he played his role as director of art to offer a decidedly original score, even if it meant exposing himself to doubt, or even debates with some of the festival-goers.

It is a necessary gamble to preserve the spirit and identity of a festival firmly anchored in the summer calendar ( 8,500 admissions in 2024 ) but which is unlike any other because it dares to reinvent itself each year while refusing to get involved with a genre that is too restricted.

"There will be theater, dance, mime, circus, and music," lists Dany Kocher, highlighting the variety of shows selected. "High standards are always a criterion," reassures Dany Kocher. It's up to everyone to plan their own route from day to day, to choose just one date or to decide to see everything. To share their favorites, or not. "It's always nice when you meet people who say the program was great," confides Dany Kocher . "On the contrary, when the audience isn't interested, we're disappointed." But as long as there's fun to be had, it's a win.

The big innovation, however, is elsewhere. Not far away, right in the center of the Place d'Armes, the heart of the festival, but where there are ultimately few performances, sometimes none at all, depending on the edition. But this summer, it's going to be moving and even dancing. Every evening, starting at 10 p.m., there will be a ball! Where festival-goers usually mingled with passersby to sit quietly and let the evening fade away in a relaxed and gently musical atmosphere, there will now be a popular party. It will be another way to get together after the day's shows, or even to come to the center of Phalsbourg to clear your head after a day at work. "It came about by chance," explains Dany Kocher, "with two companies whose literary inspiration was the ball and dance: La Guerre des boutons and L'Ultrabal. I found it frustrating to talk about the ball but not be able to dance... In the end, we're going to do it in the square; it will be a common thread in the program."

Every night, a different band will be on stage, performing different styles: accordion, musette, folk, or DJ. And that's in addition to the nearly one hundred shows on the program.