The 360-degree sound and light show returns to illuminate the Cour d’Honneur at the Palais des Papes in Avignon, Provence, from 11 August to 12 October 2019.
With lavender fields stretching to infinity and Van Gogh’s famous starry sky emerging, get ready for a spectacular show. For the second consecutive year, the monumental ‘Vibrations’ will unfold its robes of light on the courtyard walls at the Palais des Papes, with a profusion of colourful images and music.
A sublimated Provence
Like a butterfly flitting between the show’s different paintings, the visitor is invited to feast on the nectar of regional landscapes and culture. A Provence sublimated by painters, a Mont Ventoux shrouded in ancient and modern legend, a fairytale River Rhône spanned by a famous bridge, a vineyard that makes the crystal glasses sing…
Animated ‘poetic-mechanical’ toys also pay homage to creativity and the Avignon Festival. This year, ‘Vibrations’ is enhanced by two new sequences that evoke both the town and its bewitching natural surroundings. A total of 11 paintings will come alive on the palace facades for a show lasting around 30 minutes. And following last year’s success, ‘Vibrations’ will stay for longer in 2019, remaining scheduled until October.
The Palais des Papes, Gothic jewel of the town
The show takes place in the Courtyard of the Palais des Papes, where the first performances of the Festival d’Avignon – founded in 1947 by Jean Vilar – took place. This exceptional place captures the very identity of Avignon: a papal town that’s been here for 400 years, with seven sovereign pontiffs who fled Rome, and two papal legates.
The Palais des Papes as we see it today was completed in 1363, and remains a great reference to southern Gothic art. Built on the rocks as a dual residence and fortress, it’s characterised by its 10 square towers.
‘Vibrations’ opens the doors of Avignon’s Palais des Papes at nightfall for a dreamlike journey that celebrates the heritage of Vaucluse and the papal town. Conceived in 2018, this immersive experience will delight all audiences this year.