In this edition: A bruised Mayor Bonnefont gets reelected for third term; the court face-off between the Association FIBD, 9e Art+, and the Association for the Development of Comics in Angoulême (ADBDA) was postponed; and the candidates to fulfill the ADBDA’s plan for a New Festival in Angoulême are revealed.
Mayor Bonnefont Survives Bruising Reelection Campaign
On the local politics front, Angoulême’s mayor Xavier Bonnefont won a third term in office at the municipal elections over the weekend. He has been in post since 2014. It had been believed that the extremely public debacle and subsequent damage to the local economy from November’s collapse of the International Comics Festival – within months of the campaign – had severely impacted his chances.
On Sunday (March 22), having not achieved an overall majority from a vote on March 15, Bonnefont had to take on two rivals in a second round. Although he managed to win with 48.26% of the vote, he experienced a comparative drop in support from the election six years ago. In 2020, Bonnefont’s won 52.68% of the vote in the first round with a huge margin over his four rivals (his closest rival at 21.96% share of the total vote), avoiding any need for a second round.
On Sunday, although Bonnefont managed just under half the total vote in the second round (of 3 candidates), in the week prior he only managed 27.76% in the first round vote – split across 9 candidates – and was roughly ten points above his nearest rival. In the second round on Sunday (March 22) where Bonnefont managed 48.26% vote share, his rivals held 32.18% and 19.56% of the vote. It is quite possible that if there was a single united opposition, Bonnefont could have lost.
In France, municipal elections take place every 6 years and are decided with two rounds of voting. Unless a candidate’s party list achieves over 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round of voting would take place, with any candidates below 5% vote share in the first round automatically excluded. On March 15 five candidates, mainly of the political left (Bonnefont is on the right) met the threshold for round two. Crash talks had taken place during the week to clear the field, leaving only two candidates to take on Bonnefont in Sunday’s polls – Anne-Aziliz Petit-Louboutin of staunch left, democratic socialist party La France Insoumise, and independent centre-left candidate Patrick Mardikian.
Interestingly, Patrick Mardikian is the son of Angoulême Festival co-founder and former local politician Jean Mardikian. Patrick Mardikian had cofounded a Francophone film festival and food festival in the town, and presently serves as the president of the Cité de la BD (Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l’image) which oversees the major comics archive and museum, international artist residency location Maison des Auteurs, and venue Vaisseau Moebius (which has a public library of comics, exhibition spaces, a café and a cinema).
Bonnefont’s victory was far from assured. Although the campaign period brought up a range of local issues, the collapse of the Angoulême International Comics Festival in November 2025 (covered in the national and international press) on his watch, with the resultant hit to the local economy, were levied against him from early on. If Bonnefont had lost this election, his political career – and whatever ambitions he had for higher office – would have gone up in smoke.
Angoulême is a town (curiously referred to in France as a cité/city, rather than ville/town) of around 41,000 people, with a wider urban population of over 100,000. It sits within the départment of Charente, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in South West France.
A Court Battle Postponed
March 18 was the scheduled court date for Angoulême Festival owner Association FIBD, former showrunner 9e Art+, and the Association for the Development of Comics in Angoulême (ADBDA). It has now been moved to April 15, at the request of the ADBDA.
In January, 9e Art+ owner Franck Bondoux held a press conference to announce his and the Association FIBD’s intention to take the ADBDA to court for unfair competition and reputational parasitism, aiming to place an injunction and halt the ADBDA’s efforts to form a ‘brand new’ international comics festival in Angoulême and potentially render the chances of a 2027 event moot.
The ADBDA’s current course emerged as talks between the entire comics industry (authors and publishers) and the festival owning Association FIBD completely broke down following the Association’s decision to effectively renew the contract with 9e Art+ in November 2025.
March 18 would have been the preliminary meeting between the conflicting parties and a judge to decide whether there were sufficient grounds to go to trial. For now, things remain up in the air.
Should things move to a full legal battle, it is not inconceivable that the case could take years to resolve – at least between the ADBDA and Association FIBD. 9e Art+ still technically has FIBD 2027 as the end point on its original contract but the industry would refuse any further involvement with the operator. After that, it is unclear what may happen.
The ADBDA is the body representing the interests of publishers, creators, and public financiers. It has expanded its membership and remit to oversee all events that take place within the town. Its present form emerged in the wake of the breakdown in talks between Association FIBD and the French comics industry.
The “New Festival” Candidates Are In
On March 12, the deadline for the New Festival organiser passed. According to Charente Libre, despite a large number expressing interest in taking on the assignment, only four candidates had submitted applications. Two of which are returnees from Association FIBD’s catastrophic ‘open’ call:
In a March 13 article, the paper said the four groups in the running include:
- A Bord: owned and operated by Stanislas Bonnin, this fairly local Bordeaux-based company manages the Bourdeaux Metropolitan International Arts Festival and the Palm’Fest music festival at La Palmyre, on the coast, among others. All take place within the Nouvelle Aquitaine region of France, where Angoulême is located. A Bord has past experience as a service provider for the Angoulême International Comics Festival (9e Art+ would hire various companies and contractors to operate aspects of the show) so it would have some familiarity. To make the application more intriguing A Bord has partnered with former 9e Art+ employee Ezilda Tribot. Born in Angoulême, Tribot served as the Angoulême Festival’s events manager and youth artistic director between 2007 and 2019, before going independent to form her own events company, Les Drôles & co.
- The Morgane Group: This is a curious one – founded in 1992, the company got its start in the audiovisual production business. It has over the years developed expertise around events or ceremonies with a strong audiovisual component (usually music festivals and concerts). Since 2011, the group has had a dedicated events production subsidiary too. It owns and operates the Rochelle Francofolies music festival in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region and the Printemps Spring Festival in Bourges, central France. It even has a connection to comics as it produces France.tv show Concillabule hosted by cartoonist Pénélope Bagieu. For its bid, Morgane has partnered with former 9e Art+ employee (and former Angoulême native) Céline Bagot – who worked at the company between 2016 and 2019 in various roles including communications director and general coordinator. Bagot went on to found the Pop Women Festival, a multidisciplinary weekend event in Reims that highlights female creativity and self expression. It’s fifth edition took place earlier this month. Alongside Bagot will be Marie Parisot, who since January has been an executive director at the Morgane Group. Parisot has decades of experience (and plenty of contacts) from inside the world of comics and comics publishing – having worked at Dargaud, Dupuis, the Madrigall group (Casterman, Futuropolis, Gallimard), and Humanoids, often in marketing and communications roles.
- Côte Ouest: The events company of the Sud Ouest press group. This is a returnee from Association FIBD’s contested open call last year. It operates events across Nouvelle Aquitaine. It has run a wine festival and a tennis tournament in the region. In its original application it had partnered and built its proposal with Céline Bagot but she has since switched to the Morgane Group (see above)
- Visiona: This second returnee is better remembered as the only applicant situated outside France. It is an Italian company, owned by Claudio Curcio, that operates Comicon Napoli – an event somewhat comparable in size to Angoulême Festival (over 180,000 visitors, 400 exhibitors, 300 guest authors). The 2025 application had Visiona partnering with publisher Glénat’s former general director Jean Paciulli to help get some local footing. This time around it has partnered with the Charente Federation of Secular Organisations (FCOL) which runs field trips and smaller activities in the départment, a trade fair in Carat, and….a sailing centre.
The applications will now be considered by a special jury representing the ADBDA, with the result to be decided April 24. The chosen candidate will then be charged with coming up with a completely new international comics festival in Angoulême – with the first edition for this new concept being presumably the first half of 2027. About a year to prepare (instead of around two). No pressure.
Awards without the Festival
Two sets of awards that traditionally took place at the Angoulême Festival each January were belatedly announced – the Prix Konishi for translating manga into French, and more recently the Prix René Goscinny for comics writers.
Prix Konishi took place February 7 at the Maison de la culture du Japon in Paris, as part of 30th anniversary celebrations of the original Prix Konishi for Literature (the manga edition is currently in its 9th year). The 2026 winner was Déborah Pierret Watanabe for her translation of Junko Honma’s My Beloved Grandma (Ma Mamie Adorée / 梅さんと小梅さん ) published in France by Le Renard Doré. Set in 1970s Japan, My Beloved Grandma is about that special bond between grandmother and grand-daughter through charming vignettes. The Konishi Prize for Manga Translation is run jointly by the Japanese Embassy in France and the Konishi Foundation.
On March 14, the Prix Goscinny Awards for Best Writer (Meilleur Scénariste) and Young/New Writers (Jeune Scénariste) were announced at the Institut de France, as part of a special event marking 100 years since the birth of beloved comics writer and Asterix co-creator René Goscinny, who helped establish the role in Franco-Belgian comics.
Jean-Christophe Deveney received the René Goscinny Best Writer Award for Soli Deo Gloria [Glory Be To God Alone], drawn by Édouard Cour and published by Dupuis. Based in Lyon, Deveney has been working in French comics for 25 years. A number of his works have been nominated for prizes, including- Les Météores [The Meteors] with artist Tommy Redolfi which made Angoulême’s 2025 Official Selection and received the Special Jury Prize. Soli Deo Gloria, which looks at the transformative effect of music in two young lives during the Holy Roman Empire has been a major critical success in France and has already received a few prizes – including Fnac-France Inter’s Prix BD in January.
The René Goscinny Prize for New Writer went to duo Fabienne Blanchut & Catherine Locandro for Les cheveux d’Edith [Edith’s Hair], drawn by Dawid and published by Dargaud. The graphic novel, set in post-Liberation Paris, centres on the relationship between a high schooler and a young Holocaust survivor recently returned from the Nazi concentration camps. This was the second graphic novel by the writing duo, who turned to writing comics after establishing careers in other creative arenas – Blanchut in children’s literature and TV; and Locandro in literature.
Done in partnership with the Institut René Goscinny, the Best Writer award in particular is arguably the closest that French comics writers will get to a career achievement award (Angoulême’s Grand Prix conventionally recognises artists or solo writer/artists). If a festival takes place in 2027, there would be a retrospective exhibition featuring their collaborations.
As well as the Prix Konishi and Prix René Goscinny, on March 21 the Association of Comics Critics & Journalists (ACBD) were finally able to hold the prize-giving ceremony of their annual Critics Prize (Grand Prix de la Critique), usually held over Angoulême Festival weekend. The winner had been announced in December 2025 as Romain Bertrand and Jean Dytar‘s Les Sentiers d’Anahuac / The Paths of Anahuac (Delcourt). During a special conference day, the ACBD conducted the ceremony, bestowing a special trophy – an original illustration by the previous year’s winner Luz (Deux Filles Nue; Albin Michel) – to co-author Jean Dytar.
9e Art+ empties their offices
On March 2, 9e Art+ cleared their second-floor offices of 20 years at 71 Rue Hergé in Angoulême. Although all rents and bills had been paid, landlord Adel Mardini was hit by surprise with the sudden decision to depart. Saying to local paper Charente Libre, “People who’ve been here for 20 years, leaving without a saying a word.”
The company has been struggling to stay operational since the collapse of the festival in December and the sudden removal of over half of its funding.
Owner Franck Bondoux said, at the time, that this was a move to ensure the long term viability of the company.
