The festival

Presentation

The European Biennial “Premières Rencontres – Art, early years and live performance” is organised every two years over a period of 3 to 4 weeks around the month of March, during which European performances intended for very young audiences are presented in several venues in Villiers-le-Bel and in some fifteen partner cities in the Val-d’Oise (95) and Seine-et-Marne (77) districts, in the Greater Paris region in France.

A highlight, the European Forum, is also organised each year during which conferences, project presentations, debates and exhibitions take place over two days.

Finally, training sessions for cultural and early years staff are organised before, during and after the festival to allow a better knowledge and questionning of contemporary performing arts dedicated to young children.

The festival was born in 2004 from the will of artists contributing to :

• Furthering the reflection on European creation and stimulating the circulation of European artistic work for young children in the Île-de-France (Greater Paris) region
• An in-depth work through debates, training and exchanges on the sensitive and concrete knowledge of the child throughout Europe in a spirit of co-creation (involving parents, children and professionals)
• Strengthening a European and international network of artists and professionals in the field of culture and childhood in order to share strategies.

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Since 2004, the festival PREMIÈRES RENCONTRES has been :

Extensive media coverage and a positive image of the local commuity

Video : 10 years of the festival (in French)