Hosted Company Applications
Alongside its program of invited companies (programmed by the festival with the support of the Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles), Namur en Mai now offers a program of companies hosted in the streets and squares of Namur. This project is made possible by the support of the City of Namur, the Province of Namur, the Walloon Region and the Loterie Nationale.
With a view to offering the best to the companies hosted, this project takes place in the heart of the city, offering artists the magnificent performance spaces for which Namur en Mai and the artists who have been performing there for years are renowned.
Namur en Mai aims to offer spaces for artistic and cultural encounters, where young and old, festival-goers and professionals, audiences and non-audiences meet in a lively city that comes alive and transforms for three days to the rhythm of international artistic performances selected on the basis of applications.
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By hosting this parallel program to its official one, Namur en Mai is responding to three distinct challenges. Firstly, to meet the ever-increasing demand from an ever-growing public. Secondly, to respond to the territorial challenges of a lively and culturally active city, with a fairground arts festival of international renown. And lastly, to meet the need to provide artists with playing spaces that meet their needs on the street, on a festival scale that also offers them a high level of professional visibility.
Potential locations for
Hosted Companies
Place St Aubain
Pied de l’enjambée
Place Maurice Servais
Place d’Arme
Le Hallage
Place de l’Ange
The different play areas can accommodate several hundred people. These play areas are all freely accessible in the public space.
If a company is present for several days, its allocated performance space remains the same throughout the festival.
By completing this form, you agree to respect the following conditions
Conditions and information
Proposed technical conditions:
– a performance space that complies with the company’s technical specifications (and, with the help of the festival’s technical management, has been set up in such a way as to be able to cohabit with the other companies present in the performance space).
– a technique adapted to the festival’s capacity (in consultation with the company)
– a reception area designed and adapted to ensure good visibility of the audience in relation to the performance space (tiered seating, installation of the audience by our venue managers, etc.).
Proposed financial conditions :
For Namur en Mai, it’s important that the companies we welcome are all treated equally, and that we respect each other’s commitment. That’s why we’ve set the following conditions.
– Bursary: A bursary of €250 (excluding VAT) per day is provided for each artist on stage. This amount is a fixed sum that is offered to all artists of the companies hosted.
– Travel expenses: A lump sum of €100 is allocated to all Belgian companies. An amount of 250€ is allocated to companies from neighbouring countries and “small forms”. A sum of €500 is awarded to non-limiting foreign companies or “large-scale” projects requiring a larger convoy.
– Free ticketing: The practice of free ticketing via “the hat” is authorized and encouraged in the performance space. The Namur en Mai public has been accustomed to the principle of free ticketing for many years, and the festival will continue to raise public awareness on this subject.
Reception conditions :
– All companies domiciled more than 100km from Namur may be accommodated by the organization for the duration of their presence in Namur.
– Lunch and dinner catering is provided by the organization if the performance schedule warrants it.
– A shared lodge space for all guest and host companies is available at the heart of the festival. This space is designed to meet everyone’s needs and comfort requirements: training areas, rest areas, preparation areas, changing rooms, sanitary facilities and a small catering area. The space has also been designed to accommodate the children of artists taking part in Namur en Mai, with a view to supporting their parenthood.
Playing frequency :
Each company is asked to perform its show twice a day. It is possible to perform up to three times if the company so requests at the time of registration.
Schedules will be determined by the organizers, ensuring an equal rotation of performance times.
It is not compulsory to be available on all three days of the festival, although this is preferable.
Communication :
Playing times and the names of host companies will be added to the official Namur en Mai program. Over 20,000 copies of this program will be distributed in hard copy in Namur and the surrounding region, and will also be available for download directly from the festival website. A digital version will be sent to each host company, so that they can pass it on to their networks. The content proposed in this program meets the requirements of the organizer, who reserves the right to arbitrate.
Audience and professionals:
– The audience for Namur en Mai is very broad. It’s made up not only of insiders familiar with the shows, but also, for the most part, of visitors happy to let themselves be carried around the city by a high-quality cultural offering. Several tens of thousands of people attend every year (2024 estimate: over 200,000).
– Namur en Mai also acts as a showcase for the artists present, thanks to the large number of professionals who have been present for many years. In 2024, nearly 200 professionals were present (including 1/3 international programmers). A meeting point is also organized between professionals and artists to encourage exchanges on future collaborations. A list of registered professionals is available to artists wishing to organize a meeting during the festival. A space is also dedicated to these meetings.
Commitments :
Host companies are asked to commit to :
– play the number of performances scheduled,
– comply with the directives of the festival’s technical management so as to make the various projects proposed in the performance space co-habitable.
– take an active part in promoting their show.
– enlist the services of a diffusion attaché to ensure that professionals have the support they need.
Artistic programming line :
The Namur En Mai program is ambitious, diverse and themed. It constitutes a veritable patchwork of moments in life, woven into a space-time, reflecting society through a diversity of genres and origins. But it also reflects the richness of the sector through a diversity of forms and themes. It is the fruit of internal and external balances and constraints. It is subjective, reflecting the view of our programming committee at a given moment.
The program of guest companies will be announced in early 2025. The program of host companies will be announced in spring 2025.
Application procedure :
– Fill in the form above.
– Applications are accepted from November 22 to January 5, 2025.
– Selected companies will be contacted as soon as applications close.
– Companies not selected will be notified by e-mail in February.
