For its 2ᵉ edition, the "Festival des accents" sets up shop from April 9 to 11, 2026 in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. It's a festival of scientific and cultural mediation that invites the public to explore accents in all their facets. Through interactive games, shows, exhibitions, experimental workshops and mini-conferences, as well as songs, theatrical performances and humorous sequences, visitors will discover current research on accents, and more broadly on orality, voice and speech.
Accents are approached from the angles of production, perception and representation, and are examined from acoustic and phonetic aspects to social, cultural and political dimensions. Specialists in French and English accents share their work, but the Festival is also open to the diversity of accents in all the world's languages.
The event has been devised by linguists from various universities and research laboratories, including the Laboratoire Parole et Langage (Aix-Marseille Université/CNRS), which is organizing the 2026 edition in Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. These academics are joined by authors and actors from L'Épallle Théâtre (La Ricamarie).
It is accessible to all audiences: from children to retired people, with animations and devices adapted to as many people as possible.
Key dates :
- Thursday April 9, 2026, launch evening at the Alcazar library in Marseille
- Friday April 10, 2026, all day at the Laboratoire Parole et Langage (LPL) in Aix-en-Provence, and the Centre d'expérimentation sur la parole et le langage (CEPL)
- Saturday, April 11, 2026, all day at Théâtre de la Criée, Marseille
Teaser, program & registration (coming soon)
Instagram : @festivaldesaccents
Facebook : @Festival-des-Accents/61573731924019/
Bluesky: @festivaldesaccents.bsky.social
Organizer(s)
Sponsored by the Laboratoire Parole et Langage and supported by Aix-Marseille Université, the City of Marseille, the Théâtre de la Criée, the French Ministry of Culture, the Cité internationale de la langue française and many other laboratories and partners.
