Pauline Diaz, deputy for culture at Villeurbanne town hall, is the guest of 6 minutes flat / Lyon Capital.
“Art allows you to develop empathy and connect to other stories, to put yourself in the shoes of certain people. Through these stories, we can meet each other.“This is the conviction that Pauline Diaz, Villeurbanne cultural assistant, came to defend in 6 minutes chronoabout the Les Invites festival.
From June 19 to 21, Villeurbanne hosts the 19th edition of Invites, one of the rare street arts festivals of such scale in France. More than 100 completely free performances, in the streets and neighborhoods of the city and a municipal budget maintained despite a context of widespread cuts. An assumed choice. “It is a priority for the city of Villeurbanne to offer this festivalsays Pauline Diaz. It is a political desire to continue to offer these large-scale events.”
“Street arts make it possible to remove the barriers between public space and private space, between closed cultural spaces”
Free access, in fact, is at the heart of the project. No tickets, no barriers. “Street arts make it possible to remove the barriers between public space and private space, between closed cultural spaces, and allow us to reclaim the street.” Added to this are concrete measures: shows in French, safe zone, disabled reception areas, accessibility efforts rarely combined in a single event.
This 2026 edition promises to be a real crossroads of the world: more than 13 countries represented, from Portuguese queer performers to the Ukrainian singers of Dakh Daughters with their Break the Rock, a cry against war, via Haiti with the participatory project of Guy Régis Junior, The Bible of Debunkingwhere the people of Villeurbanne will be much more than just spectators. On engaged subjects, the programming also has a point. “These subjects allow us to talk about it, and to talk about it together” résume Pauline Diaz.
A festival for and by the people of Villeurbanne
The festival is not only for the people of Villeurbanne, it is also by them. More than fifty municipal agents volunteered to work over the weekend. 27 creations are on the program out of the 100 performances, some of which were co-constructed with residents. “It’s an unmissable event every two years, to celebrate the start of summer”said the chosen one. An event that has its roots far back: the Invites have been called that since 2002, but the tradition dates back to 1977.
Popular festival, political act, moment of resistance? Pauline Diaz does not decide: “I think it crosses over everywhere.” Art as a link, as a space for meeting between cultures, between stories, between people. A program to be found in full on the Les Invites de Villeurbanne website.
The full transcription of the interview with Pauline Diaz
Hello everyone and welcome to this new meeting of 6 minutes flat. Today we welcome Pauline Diaz. Good morning.
Hello, thank you for having me.
It was nothing, with pleasures. Pauline Diaz, you are deputy for culture and cultural law for the city of Villeurbanne. We invite you because we are going to talk about Invites, 19th edition of the street festival which is taking place in Villeurbanne, this year from June 19 to 21. First question: in a context where there are a lot of budget cuts, how do you do it, how does the city of Villeurbanne manage to maintain this Invites model which has been operating for 19 editions?
It is a priority for the city of Villeurbanne to offer this festival. The budget has not changed since the last edition. It is a political desire to continue to offer these large-scale events. There aren’t many street arts festivals in France.
What’s more, completely free.
Totally free. It is a real desire to remove all these accessibility barriers.
Exactly, sorry, I was wrong, it hasn’t been 19 years, it’s the 19th edition. The fact that it is free is precisely to allow total, global accessibility, for all residents in particular.
Yes, absolutely. It’s to remove all these barriers too. This is what street arts allow: to remove the barriers between public space and private space, between closed cultural spaces, and to reclaim the street, which can sometimes be less welcoming for certain people. It’s about putting everyone on the same level, coming together around this great event and creating moments of joy and celebration.
How does this event, the Invites, fit into a more global framework, that of the city’s cultural policy?
The festival is also a reflection of the city. Already, the fact that it is a popular festival: it is not a festival where we expect festival-goers from all over France. It’s for the people of Villeurbanne. It is also by the Villeurbannais, who participated in the co-creation of certain events and who will participate during the representations too. The city is very involved. There are more than fifty agents who volunteered to work on the Invites weekend.
There is also a kind of pride in participating in your city, in the culture of your city.
Totally. It’s an unmissable event every two years, to celebrate the start of summer. But it has been a tradition for over 50 years. The Invites have been called the Invites since 2002, but they have existed since 1977. It has truly become an unmissable event, a moment of gathering and sharing for all citizens.
Yes, in a society like ours, we really need it. You were talking about accessibility. There are also a lot of things that are done, because the festival offers shows in French, there is a safe zone, there are disabled reception areas. We feel that there is an effort at accessibility that we rarely see at festivals.
Yes, of course. It’s a city policy in general too. But at the festival, the watchword is really accessibility. This is also seen in programming topics. These are very engaged subjects.
This is a festival committed to what issues?
Feminism, LGBTQIA+ rights, the issue of disability too. These topics allow us to talk about it and talk about it together.
In fact, the director of Ateliers Frappaz, Nadine Prugnard, spoke of the festival as an act of resistance. My question is: where does the artistic end and the political begin? Where does this intersect?
I think this comes across everywhere. This is still part of the DNA of this festival, which is popular, which is there to bring people together, which is based on total diversity and on the possibility of meeting between Villeurbannais and Villeurbannaises. The fact that it is a multicultural festival is also a form of commitment, since there are more than 13 countries welcomed during the festival. The city also provides the equipment and ensures that the festival is possible in the streets of Villeurbanne. It is also a support for creation, and the city has given free expression to the programming.
Is creation integrated into the festival programming?
Yes, absolutely. There are creations. I believe there are 27 creations out of the 100 performances. The rest are shows that are already touring.
You rightly said that it was a celebration first and foremost by and for the people of Villeurbanne. There are 13 countries represented: Portugal, Cameroon, Haiti, Ukraine… How is this international dimension built and how does Villeurbanne position itself in the European street arts network?
Ateliers Frappaz and Nadine Prugnard could answer you better, because she managed all the programming. The city does not give its opinion on the programming.
In any case, the idea is that Villeurbanne, as we have seen culturally for several years, pursues a real cultural policy. Once again, the Invites remain popular, but there is also this international dimension, this desire to place Villeurbanne on the chessboard.
It’s an opportunity to meet each other, but also to discover, through these stories and these representations. Art allows you to develop empathy and connect to other stories, to put yourself in the shoes of certain people. Through these stories, we can meet each other. Whether they are multicultural, whether they come from other countries or whether they are local – we also have companies from Villeurbanne which perform – this allows us to discover these stories and these other cultures.
So . Art, the Invites, is popular, multicultural art, and above all something that allows you to connect. This allows a society to hold together. Without art, without culture, there is very little society. Thank you very much in any case for coming on the set of 6 minutes flat. The Invites, I repeat, is from June 19 to 21. Go to the Invites website and also to Lyon Capitale for more information. See you soon, goodbye.
Bye.
