La Biennale d’Aix

High points of a festival year

The second Biennale d’Aixe kicks off on 6 and 7 April 2024 in fairground mood. 
This year’s biennial is happening in two main parts, in spring and autumn.

by Valérie Rouger

The second Aix biennial festival of art and culture is in two parts. The first runs from 6 April to 29 June, the second from 21 September to 14 December. Anyone who loves the visual or performing arts should put both in their diaries. The multidisciplinary festival’s first edition, in 2022 (after the Covid19 lockdown), fruit of a partnership between the municipal authorities and the town’s cultural scene. It was a huge success. The 2024 edition is aiming still higher, turning the town into a vast playground for all the artistic disciplines and actively involving residents and the public. Parks, gardens and public spaces in general, libraries, social centres and the university will be venues for a cultural celebration that will captivate hearts and minds and enchant the senses. Theatre, street arts, exhibitions, dance, digital arts, contemporary circus, concerts, films, performances, banquets, master classes, workshops and more. Everyone will catch the vibes of this exuberant multiform event. The opening weekend on 6 and 7 April features a splendid show by Titanos, backed by the Marseille creativity centre Lieux Publics. Titanos’ life-size artistic fairground combines naivety, frenzy and general jubilation. An unforgettable experience.

Biennale d’Aix du 6 avril au 29 juin et du 21 septembre au 14 décembre 2024.

Other high points

• Late April is carnival time, with street arts in the spotlight.

• 12 May, the Olympic flame will be carried for 5 kilometres through the town.

• From Saturday 18 May to Sunday 6 October, contemporary art with Shiharu Shiota’s installations in public places. The Japanese artist weaves her web and spreads her protean installations in the Musée du Pavillon de Vendôme, Musée des Tapisseries and the Chapelle de la Visitation. In partnership with the prestigious Galerie Templon.

• The second weekend in June, the circus comes to town – in the Couvent des Prêcheurs, to be precise. Trampolinist and artist Mathurin Bolze gives a stunning performance of poetic acrobatics.

• For this second Aix biennial, the town extends a welcome to guest country Lebanon. We’ll discover a rich multidisciplinary artistic scene thanks to artists of all kinds from Lebanon and its diaspora.

 • On the opening night of the biennial’s second part, on Saturday 21 September, there will be a big banquet and dance at the Grand Théatre de Provence in the town centre.