The Avignon Festival is held every July in the courtyard of the Popes’ Palace, as well as in other locations around the city of Avignon. Founded in 1947 by Jean Vilar, it is the oldest theatre and performing arts festivals in France…and one of the world’s greatest.

THE DAMNED

This is the play that everyone’s talking about right now. Direction is by Ivo Van Hove, artistic director of one of Europe’s most inventive theatre companies, the Toneelgroep in Amsterdam. Actors are from the prestigious Comédie Française troupe. THE DAMNED will be televised live from Avignon this Sunday night (July 10) at 22h50 on France2.

Here’s the story – To protect their interests as Nazism triumphs in Germany, the steel tycoons of the fabulously wealthy Essenbeck family see no other solution but to ally themselves with the new regime and murder the patriarch, old Baron Joachim. Intrigue and machinations, betrayals and murders: the appointment of the new head of their steel empire will turn into a ritual of Evil in which the corruption of the relationships between individuals echoes the cruelty and brutality of the political context.

In this struggle for survival and against all odds, it is Martin – the incestuous and paedophiliac progeny of powerful Baroness Sophie – who will manage to eliminate all his opponents and become a zealous servant of the regime, ready to reign on the empire he inherited. He will, however, have to pay a high price, living a cold life irremediably devoid of love, goodness, and beauty.

http://www.festival-avignon.com/en/

If you click on this link below, you’ll find a good and comprehensive list of hotels, B&Bs and campsites in the region as well as restaurants, markets, etc.

http://www.provenceguide.co.uk/festivals-and-events/avignon/avignon-festival/provence-FMAPAC084CDT0000174-1.html