Le vivat

Le Vivat is a designated dance-and-theatre venue in Armentières, a town in the Nord department of France's Hauts-de-France region. Open since 1990, it now holds national-interest status for art and creation, with a programming focus on contemporary dance alongside theatre, music, circus, comedy, puppetry and children's shows.

What will you see at Le Vivat?

The heart of the venue is an auditorium seating close to 600 people, built around a stage of roughly 200 square metres — large enough to host dance and theatre productions with elaborate staging. Alongside the main hall sits an exhibition space that hosts four to five shows a season, usually tied thematically to the wider artistic programme.

More than fifty different performances take place here every year, making Le Vivat one of the more active live-performance venues in the region. The house is built around close contact between artists and audiences: visiting artists take up residencies here four to eight times a year, developing new productions on site. Associated artists include choreographer Tiago Guedes for dance and the theatre company Les Fous à réaction.

Le Vivat's signature event is its annual festival "Vivat la Danse!", dedicated to contemporary dance. Now well into double-digit editions, it draws audiences from across the Hauts-de-France region and is the busiest stretch of the venue's calendar.

How do you get to Le Vivat?

The venue sits on Place Saint-Vaast in central Armentières, next to the historic Saint-Vaast church. Armentières train station is only about 785 metres away — an 11-minute walk. TER trains run from Lille Flandres station to Armentières roughly every 30 minutes, with the trip itself taking around 20 minutes, making Le Vivat an easy evening destination from Lille. The K70 bus line, part of the Lille metropolitan ilévia network, also stops nearby.

When should you visit?

The performance season runs from autumn through spring, with a full slate of theatre, dance and music. If contemporary dance is the main draw, time your visit around the "Vivat la Danse!" festival — the programme is at its densest then, with companies arriving from across France and abroad. Outside the show season, it's worth checking the current exhibition schedule, since the display space stays open beyond performance hours.

Frequently asked questions

What is Le Vivat? It's a designated dance-and-theatre venue ("scène conventionnée") in Armentières with national-interest status — an arts institution built around a 600-seat auditorium, an exhibition space and an artist-residency programme.

What kind of shows can you see there? The programme centres on contemporary dance and theatre, alongside music, circus, comedy, puppetry and shows for younger audiences — more than fifty events a year in total.

How do you get there from Lille? The easiest way is by TER train from Lille Flandres to Armentières, about a 20-minute ride with departures roughly every half hour; from the Armentières station, it's an 11-minute walk to Le Vivat.

What is the "Vivat la Danse!" festival? It's Le Vivat's annual contemporary dance festival, the highlight of its artistic season, drawing audiences from across the Hauts-de-France region.