Due to a lack of writers and now publishers, the 2026 edition of the Angoulême festival, a major global comics event, will not be held. The authors stated, in a press release published this Tuesday, their intention to boycott the edition scheduled for the end of January. Faced with this firm position, publishers followed suit and their union announced to AFP that the 2026 edition “can no longer be held”.
Since the last edition of the event at the end of January, the company 9e Art +, organizer of the event since 2007, and its criticized director Franck Bondoux have been accused – after revelations in Humanité magazine – of financial opacity, trade “abuse” and the dismissal of an employee, in 2024, who had just filed a complaint for a rape that occurred on the sidelines of the festival.
Tuesday morning, in a press release consulted by the Libération de l’inter-orga which brings together a number of trade unions and artists’ collectives stated, “Public funders should take note that the political landscape of writers has changed (…). We insist that the boycott be maintained (…). Therefore, we will not participate in the 2026 edition.”
The artists also warned that they refused to return “as long as the company 9eArt+ manages the event” even though director Franck Bondoux had promised to withdraw last Wednesday.
Subsidy reduction of “60%.
Hours later, at the end of an emergency meeting organized by the National Publishing Union (SNE), major publishers confirmed that they would not participate in the festival either.
Fausto Fasulo, co-artistic director of the Angoulême festival since 2021, reacted to Liberation’s decision: “The horizon has never looked so apocalyptic. The festival may be difficult, but the cancellation of this 2026 edition could mean the festival will disappear definitively. »
Days earlier, a solution seemed possible. The committee was sidelined and ADBDA, a mediation association that brings together all players in the comics industry, led the next competition that would appoint a replacement for the current organizer.
At the same time, Culture Minister Rachida Dati tried to show support for “this unmissable international event.” But he also announced that he wanted to “reduce more than 60% of the subsidies given to FIBD associations”.
