For three weeks in July the Avignon Theatre Festival is an essential summer stopover in the cultural life of France - but actually there a two of them running side by side.
The alternative version known as the "Festival Off" is a bazaar, party, fair, a theatre supermarket - all that and more.
During July the living arts take over Avignon, theatres flourish in the bosom of the city, sometimes in some improbable locations, and the number of shows offered are more than you can possible manage...so be selective.