Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Angoulême, france

Angoulême Comics Festival Officially Cancelled, Accusation Of Sabotage

Angoulême Comics Festival was officially cancelled today, amongst accusations of sabotage and finger pointing at the French government

The leaked e-mails from last week have been confirmed. The Angoulême Comics Festival 2026, the third largest and most important comic book show in the world (behind Lecce and Comiket) has been officially cancelled. The announcement, delivered via a terse press release from organisers 9eArt+ today, marks the culmination of a scandal that has exposed deep fissures in the French comics industry: from allegations of financial opacity and mishandled sexual violence claims to a near-total boycott by creators and publishers. What was once a vibrant celebration of sequential art has become a cautionary tale of institutional failure, with the fallout rippling through local economies and the global comics community. The cancellation isn't a surprise; preparations were halted last week, but it arrives with a venomous edge. 9eArt+, the private firm that has helmed the festival since 2007, accuses public funders of "sabotage", signed by Vincent Brenot and Ghislain Minaire, the lawyers for 9eArt+.

"The responsibility lies with the public funders who have ceaselessly interfered in the private management of this event, with the manifest intent to oust the historial organiser… they expressed their refusal to pay the subsidies which they know are essential for the 2026 edition to take place," fumed Franck Bondoux, 9eArt+'s founder and general delegate, in the statement relayed to outlets like 20 Minutes and La Voix du Nord. And he states that without these funds, roughly €1.5 million or $1.76 million annually from state, regional, and local coffers, that next year's show "cannot materially take place under appropriate conditions", citing the press conference held by Mayor Xavier Bonnefont and public backers last week, criticising the show and calling on them to take responsibility. "Outside of any legal framework, local public authorities, in their own words, 'used all their influence' to prevent the renewal of the private contract entrusting 9e Art + with organizing the Angoulême International Comics Festival (FIBD)… This statement, in effect, sent a strong and clear signal to all stakeholders about the impossibility of organising the Festival, which inevitably led, in the days that followed, to withdrawals from many of the event's participants (exhibitors, partner companies, etc.) who had remained involved until then in the hope that it would take place." 

Culture Minister Rachida Dati's office, which had yanked a €200,000 grant earlier this year for "shortcomings," had dangled a conditional lifeline, restoration tied to the creator's buy-in, but it went unanswered. Bondoux's retort was fiery: Public meddling violated the festival's private mandate, turning a professional revolt into a political purge. La Voix du Nord captured the irony of an event born in 1974 as a grassroots comics haven, now felled by bureaucratic infighting. The Syndicat National de l'Édition hailed the funders' push for reform as "historic," but 2026's corpse leaves 2027 in purgatory under 9eArt+'s expiring contract.

The crisis, brewing since January 2025's revelations in L'Humanité of a staffer's firing after reporting a rape during the 2024 edition, exploded in November with boycotts from over 20 Grand Prix winners, including Riad Sattouf, Jacques Tardi, and 2025 laureate Anouk Ricard, and major publishers like Dargaud, Dupuis, Glénat, and Delcourt. Critics lambasted 9eArt+ for "mercantile drifts," opaque governance, and a toxic culture that marginalised workers and sidelined creators. The #Girlcott movement, led by female creators, amplified calls for reform, framing the festival as emblematic of broader industry ills: sexism, ableism, and exploitation.

Angoulême's collapse boosts geographical rivals like Quai des Bulles in Saint-Malo or Colomiers near Toulouse, which report surging interest from boycotting talent. While the ADBDA association is fast-tracking a new tender for 2028, it is eyeing a hybrid model with public oversight and creator veto power. But the statement from 9eArt+ reminds us that the show "legally belongs to 9e Art +" and calls for "a negotiated solution… to lay the groundwork for a smooth transition to a new management structure for the Festival".

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