Annecy Addresses Complaints Of Overcrowding By Adding 21,700 Seats For 2020 Edition

By Alex Dudok de Wit | 01/16/2020 5:05 pm | Be the First to Comment!

Grumbles of overcrowding are something of a refrain at Annecy. As the festival swiftly grows in size and scope, so do the queues. Last year saw a record 12,300 badgeholders — and a record number of complaints.

Annecy is taking this feedback to heart. CITIA, the organization that runs the festival, announced changes aimed at reducing pressure on its venues. The goal is to maintain “a high level of excellence by improving access into the theaters to guarantee the best possible experience for badgeholders.”

The next edition will offer festivalgoers 21,700 extra seats — an increase of 26% on last year. There will be ten extra screenings per day, which several venues will extend their hours to accommodate. Two theaters, the Auditorium Seynod and Le Rabelais, Meythet, will host festival screenings for the first time.

The statement adds that “badgeholders will have exclusive and privileged admission to Bonlieu for all the screenings.” Bonlieu is the festival’s main venue and hosts many of its most prestigious events. It isn’t clear what “exclusive and privileged admission” means in practice — Cartoon Brew has contacted the organizers for clarification. Meanwhile, the statement doesn’t address rumors of an ambitious expansion of the festival’s MIFA market in the coming years.

Mickaël Marin, CEO of CITIA, said in a statement: “Along with Dominique Puthod, president of CITIA, and Marcel Jean, artistic director, our priority is to enable each festivalgoer to access the theatres in the best possible conditions. For the 60th anniversary, and in order to respond to the significant growth of the last editions, we wanted to considerably increase our seating capacity. Annecy 2020 will offer more screenings, more theaters for a festival that must address the next decade with the ambition of sustainable growth that puts the comfort of the festivalgoer at the heart of its policy.”

The next edition of Annecy will be held on June 15–20. For more information, head to the festival’s website.

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