What makes the Maynats unique, even unique?
It's a children's performance festival that was created when there weren't many nationally and none at all. There still aren't that many. And since it's a festival for children, they're the only ones who pay. And since they pay, we owe them the best service, the best seats. No festival in France does that to my knowledge. Everything is designed for children: the shows, of course, the free entertainment, right down to the bar with a counter at child height.
How did the idea for a children's performance festival come about?
Next October, we'll be 30 years old. Max Capot and Christian Arramon were very keen to create a festival for children, at a time when the newly created Communauté de Communes de la Haute-Bigorre wanted an event that would spread throughout its territory. The result was a traveling festival that traveled annually from village to village within the Communauté de Communes.
Is there an archetype of the show you program?
It's a quality show above all. We're talking about live performance, not just animation. There's a story, a message, a goal. We like it when there's a message about ecology or the future of citizenship, because we're participating in popular education. And it has to make people's eyes sparkle or convey emotion. Whatever the form, dance, theater, video, puppetry, poetry, circus... We can enjoy anything. We like it when there are several levels of interpretation, from the youngest to the oldest. We see a lot of shows and we book very few. We've become one of the most important festivals in this sector: being programmed by the Maynats is a recognition of quality for the companies and other programmers.
Are these shows local or rather national?
Quality takes precedence over origin. If the show comes from Occitanie, so much the better, from the Hautes-Pyrénées, even better. We support local companies and always program them. This year, there are four shows from the Hautes-Pyrénées. But we look for a quality show above all, whether it's here, elsewhere in France, in Spain, or in Belgium.
Have children's shows evolved?
Yes, it's a subject that's constantly being renewed. Since I became president, at the heart of the reactor, I've gained a much better appreciation for the evaluation of shows. When the Maynats was founded, there were a lot of puppets and dance. But it remained simple in form. More and more, forms are blending; there's puppetry, singing, circus, dance. Everything is blending, and we're going much further in our search for an aesthetic.
And has the audience changed?
Yes. It's already grown in number. We reach the entire department, and there are also spectators who come from Pau and Toulouse. The audience has also changed because children are now more accustomed to being alone in front of a screen than to sharing with other children and their parents in a theater. We feel even more indispensable than before; we should be reimbursed by social security. We're also now more sensitive to distant audiences. Whether geographically by bringing the shows to audiences, or socially with the Médianes association to allow this audience to come to the festival alone or with their families.
What is the future for the Maynats?
An uncertain future. First of all, the festival would still have to exist. And so do the companies, because culture is in danger everywhere right now. For us, that means support from the Parvis. Through the subsidies we receive, particularly from the department and the region. Or those we no longer receive, like those from the Community of Communes. In 2026, we'll celebrate our 30th anniversary. And we'll see if that's the end of the Maynats or if we're back for another 30 years.
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