Angoulême's 2026 comic festival cancelled amid boycott and management row
The 2026 edition of the Angoulême International Comics Festival, France’s largest event dedicated to the art form, has been officially cancelled, one of the organisers’ lawyers confirmed on Monday. This comes after the withdrawal of public funds and a boycott by dozens of authors and publishers who say the event has been mismanaged for years.
Issued on: 02/12/2025 - RFI
Visitors look at comics on the street during the 52nd Angouleme International Comics Festival in Angouleme, on January 30, 2025. AFP - ROMAIN PERROCHEAU
"The 2026 edition is cancelled. A letter was sent at the end of last week to inform the festival’s public partners," said lawyer Vincent Brenot, representing the organising company 9e Art+.
He added that the decision, first reported by regional newspaper La Charente Libre, was “the straightforward consequence” of the stance taken by public funders.
On 18 November, the French government withdrew €200,000 of public subsidies for next year's event, putting a major hole its finances.
It marks the first time since the festival’s creation in 1974 – apart from the Covid-19 hiatus – that the event will not take place. The 53rd edition had been scheduled for 29 January to 1 February 2026.
"The 2026 edition is cancelled. A letter was sent at the end of last week to inform the festival’s public partners," said lawyer Vincent Brenot, representing the organising company 9e Art+.
He added that the decision, first reported by regional newspaper La Charente Libre, was “the straightforward consequence” of the stance taken by public funders.
On 18 November, the French government withdrew €200,000 of public subsidies for next year's event, putting a major hole its finances.
It marks the first time since the festival’s creation in 1974 – apart from the Covid-19 hiatus – that the event will not take place. The 53rd edition had been scheduled for 29 January to 1 February 2026.
Street in Angouleme featuring heroes from comics, 7 August 2023. © RFI/Jan van der Made
At the heart of the scandal is the management model of the festival, which has helped turn Angoulême into a centre of European production and comics expertise.
It is run by a non-profit association presided over by Delphine Groux, the daughter of co-founder Francis Groux, but has been organised by a private company, 9eArt+, since 2007.
The 9eArt+ director, Franck Bondoux, was the subject of an investigation by left-wing magazine l'Humanité before this year's event which accused him of mismanagement and an increasingly contested style.
It also reported that the company had dismissed an employee shortly after she reported being raped at the 2024 event.
At the heart of the scandal is the management model of the festival, which has helped turn Angoulême into a centre of European production and comics expertise.
It is run by a non-profit association presided over by Delphine Groux, the daughter of co-founder Francis Groux, but has been organised by a private company, 9eArt+, since 2007.
The 9eArt+ director, Franck Bondoux, was the subject of an investigation by left-wing magazine l'Humanité before this year's event which accused him of mismanagement and an increasingly contested style.
It also reported that the company had dismissed an employee shortly after she reported being raped at the 2024 event.
French author Anouk Ricard won the Grand Prize during the 52nd Angouleme International Comics Festival in Angouleme, on 29 January, 2025. AFP - ROMAIN PERROCHEAU
Lack of transparency
For weeks, doubts have mounted over the festival’s future as a major portion of the French comics community turned against the organisers.
Many writers and artists denounced what they described as the growing commercialisation and lack of transparency at the event.
Among the authors who planned boycotters was Anouk Ricard, winner of the 2025 Grand Prix d’Angoulême and "Maus" creator Art Spiegelman.
"It is high time to turn the page on 9eArt+ so that the festival can regain, with new operators, the values that helped build its international reputation," read an open letter on 10 November signed by 22 former winners of the festival's top prize.
Superman and Spanish artists lead the charge at Angoulême Comics Festival
Several leading publishers have also withdrawn support, calling this year’s edition "compromised" and saying their trust in the organisers had been "broken".
On 20 November, the festival’s main public funders – who normally provide around half of its €6 million budget – recommended that the 2026 edition be scrapped, saying it would be “extremely difficult” to stage the event under the current circumstances.
"The 2026 Festival cannot physically go ahead under satisfactory conditions," lawyers for 9e Art+ said in a statement sent to AFP. "This situation is in no way a voluntary decision by 9e Art+, whose sole purpose is to run the Angoulême Festival, but rather a unilateral decision made without consultation by public funders."
The company expressed concern over the “human and economic consequences” of the cancellation and warned of "significant uncertainty" surrounding the 2027 edition, which it remains legally entitled to organise.
(With newswires)
Lack of transparency
For weeks, doubts have mounted over the festival’s future as a major portion of the French comics community turned against the organisers.
Many writers and artists denounced what they described as the growing commercialisation and lack of transparency at the event.
Among the authors who planned boycotters was Anouk Ricard, winner of the 2025 Grand Prix d’Angoulême and "Maus" creator Art Spiegelman.
"It is high time to turn the page on 9eArt+ so that the festival can regain, with new operators, the values that helped build its international reputation," read an open letter on 10 November signed by 22 former winners of the festival's top prize.
Superman and Spanish artists lead the charge at Angoulême Comics Festival
Several leading publishers have also withdrawn support, calling this year’s edition "compromised" and saying their trust in the organisers had been "broken".
On 20 November, the festival’s main public funders – who normally provide around half of its €6 million budget – recommended that the 2026 edition be scrapped, saying it would be “extremely difficult” to stage the event under the current circumstances.
"The 2026 Festival cannot physically go ahead under satisfactory conditions," lawyers for 9e Art+ said in a statement sent to AFP. "This situation is in no way a voluntary decision by 9e Art+, whose sole purpose is to run the Angoulême Festival, but rather a unilateral decision made without consultation by public funders."
The company expressed concern over the “human and economic consequences” of the cancellation and warned of "significant uncertainty" surrounding the 2027 edition, which it remains legally entitled to organise.
(With newswires)
