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Public Funders Urge Cancellation of 2026 Angoulême Comics Festival, Plan Reset for 2027

Public funders now urge the organizers to drop 2026, clearing the way to rebuild governance for a 2027 relaunch.

Overview

  • City, regional and state representatives asked the association and 9e Art+ to renounce the 2026 edition and said they will seek a new operator for 2027 with the ADBDA framework.
  • The Syndicat national de l’édition, representing 24 major publishers, declared the 2026 festival cannot be held in light of the large-scale authors’ boycott and backed work toward a 2027 reboot.
  • A group of 285 authors, including 2025 Grand Prix winner Anouk Ricard, maintained a call to boycott 2026 and demanded new governance.
  • The Culture Ministry cut its subsidy by €200,000 citing shortcomings in 2025 and still says a 2026 edition should be maintained, while public funding accounts for about half of a roughly €6.2 million budget.
  • 9e Art+ denies a formal cancellation as scrutiny over financial opacity and commercial practices persists alongside a judicial inquiry into a 2024 dismissal following a rape complaint.