In an op-ed published in Le Monde, Arnaud Idelon, a teacher and music programmer, warns about the increasing closures of festive and alternative scenes in Paris ahead of the 2026 municipal elections. He laments the scarcity of spaces where artistic creation can regenerate, amid issues of management, debt, and real estate projects.
Arnaud Idelon voices concern over the future of artistic creation in Paris in an op-ed in Le Monde. Following prosperous years, he observes a series of closures of cultural venues accumulating just weeks before the 2026 municipal elections.
The bar-concert L’International, located in the 11th arrondissement, closed in April 2025 due to management issues and failure to secure a subsidy. In December 2025, the collective living space Fawa in the 19th arrondissement was placed under judicial liquidation for similar reasons, including heavy debt from safety upgrades in a building owned by the City of Paris. Its performative programs, including drag and techno events under the peripheral boulevard, are now at risk.
Further closures are scheduled for June. La Flèche d’Or in the 20th arrondissement, a key hub for queer scenes and feminist and antiracist struggles, will shut for renovations, with its managing collective Inter-Co facing competition from other potential operators. Nearby in Bagnolet, Seine-Saint-Denis, Le Sample will cease operations that month, affecting 90 resident artists and 35,000 annual visitors. This venue, blending party, performance, poetry, and cabaret, makes way for a real estate project with works starting in summer.
In autumn, La Station-Gare des Mines in the 18th arrondissement at Porte d’Aubervilliers will vacate its site, occupied for ten years, due to a major construction project. No relocation proposal has been offered yet, raising fears of activity suspension.
Idelon urges Paris to preserve spaces resistant to museification and defend sites of cultural inventiveness to maintain the capital's artistic vitality.
