You’ve finally decided to go to France and visit the city of Angoulême for their Festival de la Bande Dessinée d’Angoulême *AHEM* the Angoulême International Comics Festival. This was our first time there, so we thought we’d share our experience for anyone out there. I’ll cover booking train tickets, reserving a hotel and buying the actual festival tickets. In case you’re wondering if it’s family friendly, it absolutely is. There are lots of things for kids to do! If you really love BDs and international comics, we highly recommend going.
1. Festival Details
Angoulême hosts one of the world’s third largest comics festivals! If you want to see a list, click here.
2. Travel by train
The best way to get to Angoulême is by train. The main train service in France is SNCF (click here). If you are going to Angoulême from Paris, there are trains from the Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG Aéroport) and from the Paris Montparnasse Metro station.
To save money, look for Ouigo trains. The price can’t be beat! Ouigo launched in 2013 as the low-cost alternative to the regular SNCF service. There are buses too, but trains are a reasonable price and faster, so why not?
3. Angoulême Hotels
There are hotels all over the city and along the outskirts, however, reserve a hotel as EARLY as you can! Rooms go super fast. The city’s population is just over 40,000 and during the festival they receive over 200,000 visitors!
Helpful Advice:
• You might want to book your accommodation before buying your train ticket, just in case.
• If you can’t find a place to sleep, you can visit the festival for one day. You can do and see a lot from morning until night.
4. Public Transportation
City Buses
For the 2018 Festival, bus lines were FREE! That means you can travel around town and see all of the exhibits for free. In the past I read they cost 1€ per day, which isn’t bad either. The city buses are run by STGA Möbius.
FREE shuttles
To support traffic on the buses, the city also provides regular FREE shuttles from the train station to the main festival every 15 minutes. Click here for more information.
5. Festival tickets & Passes
Buy passes and tickets from various ticket booths called “Billetterie”. There are temporary portable buildings in various locations where you can buy tickets, as well as official festival shops called “Associations FIBD” that can help answer all of your questions.
Helpful vocabulary:
- a ticket = un billet
- ticket booth (where you buy tickets) = billetterie
- prices / rates = tarif
- BD = bandes dessinée (French and Belgian comics)
- free = gratuit
- a day = un jour
Tickets & Passes
When you buy your passes, you receive a bracelet which allows you to enter all of the exhibits, activities and conferences, as well as the city’s tourist attractions. Since every part of the city joins in the Festival, you can also visit the Musée de la Bande Dessinée, Musee d’Angouleme, Musée du papier d’Angoulême, and more. Even the beautiful churches and the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre d’Angoulême (1100 – 1128) have exhibits and author signings (focusing on Christian themed BD).
Buy before you arrive to save money
As is often the case, buying early saves you some money. You can buy a one day pass, a four day pass or a Master Class pass.
Using 2018 as an example:
• Kids from ages 10-17: one day pass was 11€ and the four day pass was 24€
• Adults: one day pass was 16€ and the four day pass was 35€ (*the adult one day Saturday price was 22€)
Buying Passes the same day at the Festival
If you buy your pass the same day (at the event), it’s a little more expensive and there is no child/youth discount. Everyone over the age of 10 pays the same.
Using 2018 as an example:
• One day pass: 19€ for Thursday, Friday or Sunday
• One day pass: 25€ for Saturday
• Four day pass: 40€
Kids under 10 are FREE!
I was scratching my head trying to figure out how much I had to pay for my kids, who are both under 10. I finally found this little image and realized that children under 10 get in for FREE. Woohoo! Parents love free admission whenever possible.
Master Class Passes
From what I understand, the Master Class is a 4-day pass giving access to all the festival areas plus an exclusive event with a special guest. In 2018, the two special guests were Naoki Urasawa and Hiro Mashima.
Naoki Urawa is called one of the artists that changed the history of manga. Some of his titles include Pineapple Army (パイナップルARMY) – written by Kazuya Kudou Yawara, Master Keaton (MASTERキートン) – written with Hokusei Katsushika and Takashi Nagasaki Happy! , Monster, 20th Century Boys (20世紀少年) / 21st Century Boys (21世紀少年), Pluto (2003–2009) – written with Takashi Nagasaki (based on a work by Osamu Tezuka) and Billy Bat – written with Takashi Nagasaki.
Some of Hiro Mashima’s titles include Fairy Tail, Fairy Tale Zero, Rave, Plue’s Dog Diaries (プルーの犬日記), Mashima-en (ましまえん), Nishikaze to Taiyou (西風と太陽) Hoshigami no Satsuki (星咬の皐月)
Read more…
Ultimate Guide to Angoulême
Get to know the city and what it’s like to be there during the Angoulême International Comics Festival.
Angoulême Special Exhibits
