The Sign’Ô Festival

The Program on the Plaza

The plaza comes alive throughout the weekend and is organized around several areas that are open to the public free of charge:

• The Outdoor Stage Area: a continuous program of shows, small-scale artistic presentations, and performances. This stage also hosts lectures as well as presentations of the theater, sign-singing, and circus workshops organized during the festival.
• The Artisans & Organizations Market: a space dedicated to booths run by Deaf artisans from Occitanie, partner organizations, and groups that promote Deaf culture on a daily basis.
• The Relaxation Area: a welcoming dining area featuring food trucks and a refreshment stand.

Indoor Performances

Alongside the free activities in the Village on the plaza, Les Abattoirs is partnering with the “IN” program. The venue’s auditorium will host official performances from the program (theater, dance, or visual performances) tailored to the venue’s artistic focus.

Please note: There is an admission fee for indoor performances; full details are available on the Festival Sign’Ô website (https://festival-signo.com/)

Accessibility: A Priority for les Abattoirs

This initiative underscores Les Abattoirs’ commitment to audiences with disabilities.

For many years, Les Abattoirs has provided visitors with special needs with tools they can use independently. In addition to induction loops available for visitors with hearing impairments, videos presenting the exhibitions in French Sign Language are consistently available both on-site and online. To complement the sign language videos, guided tours in French Sign Language are offered by deaf docents. Every year during European Museum Night, the venue also hosts a performance in sign language.

The Sign'Ô Festival

Over the course of a weekend, the Sign’Ô festival promotes sign language as an artistic medium. Its mission is to raise the profile of Deaf culture, sign language, and, by extension, Deaf art in the public sphere, and to facilitate encounters between hearing people—whether they use sign language or not—and Deaf people around artistic practices in this language.

The philosophy underpinning the entire initiative is one of breaking down barriers—among artists, audiences, and, more broadly, among Deaf people—as well as fostering integration between Deaf and hearing audiences. It is, therefore, an open festival—not only in spirit but also in its conception of space—since anyone can attend the various artistic events on offer: workshops, video screenings, readings, lectures, and post-performance discussions, fostering fruitful exchanges between artistic teams and audiences, facilitated by the presence of interpreters.

In partnership with:

Le Théâtre du Grand Rond, Théâtre Garonne, Marionnettissimo, Bajo El Mar, Théâtre Sorano, La Grainerie, Les Abattoirs, Le Bijou