1964 - 1979

Jean Vilar was no doubt the first one to realize that this ritual was likely to change its routine. Other theatre personalities were emerging in France. So finally, wearied by the numerous and burdensome responsibilities he had accumulated, the director of the TNP left Chaillot in 1963, to devote himself to the challenging Festival d'Avignon.

Vilar invited new stage directors to Avignon, like Roger Planchon, Jorge Lavelli, Antoine Boursellier. New venues emerged like the Carmelite Cloister in 1967 and the Celestines Cloister in 1968. He opened the Festival to other artistic disciplines - in 1966 he brought in dance with Maurice Béjart and his "Twentieth Century Ballet", in 1967 cinema made its first appearance at the Festival d'Avignon with an avant-première of Jean-Luc Godard " La Chinoise" in the Cour d'Honneur, and finally Vilar introduced musical theatre with Orden, directed by Jorge Lavelli.
Public interest went on growing and the city became an overcrowded theatre-land during summer months.

From that time, the Festival, with its newly acquired openness, became more difficult to manage. The Festival Avignon was not spared from the effects of the student protests in May 1968, and its founding father was disputed. Confusion reigned and, Jean Vilar, who had always been so open to communication with young people, suffered to a point from which he never recovered. He passed away in 1971, after a heart attack.

Paul Puaux, with his years of experience at the Festival, was well-placed to continue Vilar's work.
In the seventies, the Cour d'Honneur, was reserved for the heirs of Vilar's TNP: Georges Wilson, Antoine Bourseiller, Marcel Maréchal, Gabriel Garran, Guy Rétoré, Benno Besson and Otomar Krejca. More venues sprang up in cloisters and chapels that became new adventure grounds breaking with Vilar's aesthetic (e.g. Bob Wilson's Einstein on the Beach, Mephisto by Ariane Mnouchkine, La Conférence des Oiseaux by Peter Brook and Les Molière by Antoine Vitez). Militant Lucien Attoun put on his "Théâtre Ouvert" (Open Theatre) where, from 1971 a new generation of directors like Jean-Pierre Vincent, Bruno Bayen, Jacques Lassalle, staged with little means and contemporary texts (Rezvani, Rufus, Gatti). He then provided them "Le Gueuloir";a place where the playwrights themselves were invited to present their works.
La Chartreuse de Villeneuve-lez-Avignon, a 14th century monastery on the other side of the Rhone River was transformed into the International Centre for Creative Research (CIRCA). It is a residence for artists where are held exhibitions and concerts and, it also welcomes an event called 'Rencontres Internationales" (International Encounters) each summer during the Festival.

At the same time, fringe theatre started up at Avignon, giving various companies desired and desirable exposure at the Festival. The first to perform in the "Off" were local companies (e.g. Benedetto, Gélas), then young troupes from all over France started attending (e.g. Gildas Bourdet, Bernard Sobel) seeking to reach the Festival audience. Although they may not have been selected by the Festival committee to perform, they wanted to be a part of what had become the major summer event for theatre and to rub shoulders with the important players of the theatre world and the media, and to present their work to theatre-lovers.