37,000 festival-goers were welcomed from 25 to 30 July 2023: a real performance for this Festival, which this year renewed its international strand.
A total of 175 artists, programmers and journalists from some twenty countries were able to discover new creations for young and old in 141 outdoor and indoor performances, 11 exhibitions, 5 cabaret evenings and 9 professional gatherings, providing an exceptional opportunity to exchange practices and experiences.
A special mention must go to the Marionnettarium, a veritable ‘crossroads of creativity’, which enabled nearly 2,000 people to meet artists in the making, take part in workshops with professionals and get hands-on with creating their own puppets.
The two co-directors, Dany Lefrançois and Benoït Lagrandeur, were delighted with the positive feedback from a wide audience and the artists themselves. They thanked their team and the 80 volunteers for this success, as well as the many public and private partners who have supported the Festival.
For the first time in North America, the City of Saguenay hosted the annual General Assembly of the Association Internationale des Villes Amies de la Marionnette (AVIAMA). For the occasion, some thirty elected officials and representatives from Spain, South Korea, France, the Czech Republic and Canada travelled to Saguenay.
