Launched over 20 years ago, the Festival of Solidarities is an international event that promotes and celebrates solidarity with the world and with others.
Every year in November, associations, local authorities, schools, socio-cultural organisations, social economy organisations, citizens’ groups and others organise more than 4,400 friendly and dedicated activities to inspire people of all ages to take action for a just, united and sustainable world.
The 2024 event will take place from Friday 15 November to Sunday 1 December!
The activities take place throughout France, as well as in other countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Senegal, Togo…
The Festival of Solidarities is a project led by CRID (Centre for Research and Information on Development).
An event with many facets
The strength of this event lies in its ability to adapt to the local context in which it is organised. Festisol provides a common framework, which each organisation or group of organisations is free to use and adapt to suit their own themes, event types and target audiences, within the framework of a charter that safeguards the values it upholds.
Combating poverty, food security, health, education, tackling inequalities, climate and environmental protection, peace… These themes are global issues set out in the UN’s 2030 Agenda. We champion a vision of global solidarity, at both local and international levels.
Read the statement by the members of the Festival of Solidarities
As for the proposed events, they are varied: activities in public spaces, theatre performances, awareness-raising games, film screenings followed by discussions, exhibitions, communal meals, charity markets, concerts, dance performances…
Showing solidarity means choosing to defend human rights and to uphold the values of openness, mutual aid, justice and peace wherever we are.
Festival of Solidarities
A project with a global outlook
A birth marked by international solidarity
This major mobilisation event was launched in 1998 under the name ‘The Week of International Solidarity’. In 2017, following two years of collective reflection and consultations, the event was renamed the Festival of Solidarities. This change highlights the necessary continuity between the local and international levels and the desire to emphasise the friendly and festive nature of the various forms of solidarity.
A festival with a strong educational focus
At the heart of our work lies citizenship education and international solidarity (ECSI), an educational approach that helps us to better understand the world around us, recognise interdependencies, and choose to take action to steer societies towards greater solidarity whilst protecting the environment. There is no age limit on showing solidarity!
ECSI helps to provide everyone with the tools to develop a critical perspective on a dominant development model that leads to inequality and exclusion. It aims to bring about social transformation and the collective development of alternative models of development that respect human rights and the environment. It supports ongoing initiatives around the world. It promotes social cohesion and personal fulfilment.
Excerpt from the Educasol charter, the ECSI platform in France
Talking about Festisol
Would you like to discuss the Festival of Solidarities with potential stakeholders and partners?
- Download the presentation brochure.
Previous editions
- Take a look at the Festisol 2023 report
- Take a look at the Festisol 2022 report
- Take a look at the Festisol 2021 report
- Take a look at the Festisol 2020 report
- Take a look at the Festisol 2019 report
- Discover the Festival of Solidarities through pictures
- Discover the key elements of the Festisol 2022–2024 strategy
Photo credits: (c) Remi Deprez – Festisol