Korean has been selected as the official guest language for next year’s Festival d’Avignon, the world’s largest performing arts festival held annually in Avignon, France. This marks the first time an Asian language has been chosen, and the only instance in which a single national language has received this distinction.
 
Launched in 1947 under the initiative of French director Jean Vilar, the Festival d’Avignon is the oldest and most prestigious festival in France, attracting over 100,000 visitors each year. While the festival initially focused on theater, dance, and music, it has recently expanded its scope to include literature and visual arts, evolving into a multidisciplinary celebration of the arts.

Since 2022, the Festival d’Avignon has operated a guest language program under the artistic direction of Tiago Rodrigues, spotlighting the culture and arts of specific linguistic regions. English was selected as the guest language in 2023, followed by Spanish in 2024. Currently, the 79th edition of the festival—running since July 5—features Arabic as the invited language.
 
The Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS) is currently planning a range of initiatives to promote Korean performing arts at next year’s Festival d’Avignon, scheduled for July. These include the official invitation of Korean theater, dance, and performance works; cross-disciplinary collaborations in literature, film, and visual arts; artist talks and cultural forums; and the operation of a Korea Pavilion centered on the theme of “Korean Language” as identity.

KAMS announced that a significant number of Korean works will be featured in the festival’s official program, which serves as the festival’s main stage. Unlike the independently organized “Off” program, the official program involves a rigorous selection process by the festival organizers. This will be the first time in 28 years for Korean works to be invited to the festival's official program since the "Desires of Asia" project in 1998.

References

• 아비뇽 페스티벌 (Festival d’Avignon)
• 코리아넷뉴스, 한국어, 2026년 프랑스 아비뇽 페스티벌 공식 초청언어 선정···아시아 언어권 최초, 2025.07.23