Au Bonheur des Mômes, the Avignon children’s festival in Grand-Bornand
Hundreds of children applaud with both hands and cheer the company “After the rain” under the church of Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie), where a theater stage is deployed until Friday. You could imagine yourself at the Festival d’Avignon, except for the fact that you can hear the cowbells ringing and that the audience rarely exceeds the age of 10, escorted from show to show by a regiment of parents and grandparents.
“I loved the plague “, smiles Gaspard, 5 years old, who flies over the crowd on the shoulders of his grandfather, to better see the actors. “The songs were very good and the colors of the costumes very cheerful”, he very precisely supported his criticism. The grandpa is also thrilled: “It’s extraordinary for the children. It takes them away from the screens and the shows transmit values of tolerance and ecology. I accompanied my kids to the first editions and there I take the new generation, ”says Jean-Pierre, from Annecy.
Convey messages
Au Bonheur des Mômes is celebrating its 30th birthday this year. It was created in 1992 by Alain Benzoni, known as “Benzo”, director of the Toupine children’s theater company in Evian. “We pass for alternatives at the time. We arrived in a mountain village with acrobats, shows that spoke of sustainable development or living together, ”recalls this pure Haute-Savoie stock who continues to orchestrate the festival.
“Children should not be taken for idiots. The shows are both funny and smart. They convey messages. And success is more than ever there. Au Bonheur des mômes attracts 90,000 festival-goers over a week with a budget of one million euros. 90 companies were expected this year, from France and around the world, to the delight of the kids.