Angoulême Festival Organizer 9eart+ Bankrupt
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The last turn in events with the Angoulême festival drama is news that the former organizer, 9eArt+, has been placed in judicial liquidation by the Commercial Court of Angoulême. 9eArt+ also reveals that it is €1.6 million in debt. This development is not related to the legal battle between 9eArt+ and l’Association pour le développement de la bande dessinée (Association for the Development of Comics in Angoulême) or ADBDA.
From France 3 (translation by Google Translate) the company had already spent money for the 2026 festival, but when it was cancelled, the organizer found itself with no income or ability to negotiate on lost expenditures.
“Since the press conference on November 20—during which public authorities announced that the necessary conditions for organizing the 2026 festival were not met—this has triggered a cascading loss of contributions from exhibitors and sponsors,” explains Franck Bondoux. “From that moment on, the company found itself in financial difficulty. We sought to negotiate with the public authorities, but we were unable to initiate a dialogue with them.”
According to the France 3, 9eArt+ will lay off about a dozen employees. The only recourse the company has moving forward is to win the court battle it lodged against ADBDA.
For a sequence of events related to the Angoulême comic festival, see this article: Understanding the Angoulême International Comics Festival Drama.
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