22 Artists Sign Statement: Angoulême Comic Festival is in Danger of Death
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The Angoulême International Comics Festival (AICF; French: Festival international de la bande dessinée d’Angoulême) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lucca Comics & Games and the Comiket of Japan.
The Angoulême Comic Strip Festival is in danger of death.
For years, the Festival has accumulated scandals, communication errors and lack of ambition, all in total opacity of management. This deterioration seriously harms the whole profession.
As calls for a boycott multiply, the Grand Prix winners are unanimously stating that it is high time to turn the page on [festival organisation] 9ème Art+ so that the Festival can, with new organizers, rediscover the values that built its international reputation. Without rapid and profound change, the 2026 edition is very likely to be the last.’ Signed by: Florence Cestac, Régis Loisel, Philippe Dupuy, Charles Berbérian, Martin Veyron, Art Spiegelman, Jean-Claude Denis, François Boucq, Chris Ware, Franck Margerin, Jacques Tardi, François Schuiten, Baru, Blutch, Willem, Lewis Trondheim, Riad Sattouf, Hermann Huppen, Max Cabanes, Anouk Ricard, Posy Simmonds, Julie Doucet.
Complete coverage by Dean Simon from The Beat:
The controversial Bondoux was approved to continue running the festival in a recent decision by festival owner Association FIBD. The new contract would keep his widely unpopular company 9e Art+ at the helm of the show for an additional nine-year term after its current contract ends in 2027; keeping them in place until 2036. Publishers and creators have taken a stand with a rising number of cancellations making the January 2026 edition rapidly less viable.
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