The Festival d’Avignon and its Fringe offshoot, France’s biggest theatre festivals, are seeking to limit the carbon footprint of live performances by shifting the transport of stage sets from road to rail. The festivals are taking place in the city of Avignon, in south-east France, from 5-26 July.
Almost 80 companies participating in the Fringe and for the first time, two main productions, will transport the equipment needed for their shows by train. A trial run was conducted last year with around 20 companies.
“Festivals initially focused on small gestures, such as waste sorting. The impact of freight transport is on a different scale, with around 100 tonnes of CO₂ saved this year in Avignon”, said Samuel Valensi, cultural director of the think tank The Shift Project in an interview with French media. His comments were confirmed to RailFreight.com by the festivals’ organiser.
Much cheaper than trucks
Until now, each company rented its own truck but with rail freight an average of seven companies can share a single container. The trains depart from the Paris region and France and northern France. Fringe companies pay 100 euros per linear metre (they use an average of three or four metres) for a round trip. This is much cheaper than renting a truck (around 1,500 euros).
Fringe companies benefit from some public subsidies in obtaining these rates but even without such aid, rail remains a more economical option than road transport for large productions, which sometimes fill two containers, especially with the current price of fuel, explained Clara Moulin-Tyrode, assistant production director of the festivals.