Festival International de Géographie (FIG)

What Festival International de Géographie (FIG) does

Festival International de Géographie (FIG), operated by the nonprofit association ADFIG (Association pour le Développement du Festival International de Géographie) under French loi 1901, is an annual three-day geography festival held each October in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France, founded in 1990. The festival occupies more than 20 venues across the city (marquees, high schools, cultural venues, bars, and cafés) and draws over 40,000 visitors per edition to free, open-access programming that spans scientific conferences, the Salon du Livre Amerigo Vespucci book fair, exhibitions, cinema screenings, gastronomy events, live performances, and youth programming (FIG Junior, Train des Lycéens). Its core "products" include the festival itself, the Espace Géo-Numérique digital geography strand, a portfolio of geography and literary prizes headlined by the globally recognized Prix Vautrin-Lud, and the Plan National de Formation (PNF) teacher-training program delivered with the French Ministry of Education.

FIG's underlying technology footprint is limited: the organization maintains a website, a YouTube Vidéothèque archive of past conferences, and social channels (Facebook, LinkedIn), but does not disclose proprietary platforms, APIs, or AI/ML systems. AI and data infrastructure are programming topics within the Espace Géo-Numérique rather than internal capabilities.

The business model is a publicly funded nonprofit: there is no ticket revenue, no subscription, and no transactional monetization. Operating costs are covered by institutional grants and sponsorships from Ville Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, Région Grand Est, Département des Vosges, Eurométropole de Strasbourg, FNADT, the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale et de la Jeunesse, Centre National du Livre, Fondation de France, and corporate partners. A permanent core team of 11 staff executes the event, supplemented by volunteers and rotating scientific co-directors per edition. Customer segments are end-user audiences (general public, teachers, students, publishing professionals) rather than paying customers, making institutional funder concentration the dominant revenue-side risk.

Name

Festival International de Géographie (FIG)

Legal name

ADFIG (Association pour le Développement du Festival International de Géographie)

Website

https://fig.saint-die-des-vosges.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Festival International de Géographie (FIG), run by nonprofit ADFIG, is a free annual three-day geography festival in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France, serving 40,000+ public visitors, teachers, students, and publishing professionals with conferences, a book fair, prizes including Prix Vautrin-Lud, and youth programming.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Events / Geography Festival

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts, Culture, Entertainment & Fan Conventions Organizers (THAHABAN), Academic & Scientific Conferences (MPAGAGAD)

Keywords

• Geography festival
• Scientific conferences
• Literary book fair
• Teacher professional development
• Cultural events programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint-Dié-des-Vosges

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Funding and Sponsorship: The festival operates as a nonprofit association (ADFIG) funded by institutional partners including Ville Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, Région Grand Est, Département des Vosges, Eurométropole de Strasbourg, and various national ministries. Additional support comes from corporate sponsors and cultural institutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

FIG organizes an annual three-day geography festival in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France, offering free public access to scientific conferences, a literary book fair (Salon du Livre Amerigo Vespucci), exhibitions, cinema screenings, gastronomy programming, live performances, and youth education activities. The festival also administers several geography and literary prizes, including the prestigious Prix Vautrin-Lud, and runs a national teacher professional development program (Plan National de Formation).

Product overview

Festival International de Géographie (FIG) is an annual geography festival held in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France, founded in 1990. The festival operates as a multi-venue, multi-day event featuring scientific conferences, a book fair (Salon du Livre Amerigo Vespucci), cultural programming (exhibitions, cinema, live performances), gastronomy events, and youth education activities (FIG Junior). The festival awards several prizes including the Prix Vautrin-Lud (prestigious geography prize), Prix Amerigo Vespucci, Prix de la BD Géo, and youth-focused prizes. Key programming areas include scientific direction, digital geography (Espace Géo-Numérique), and teacher training (Plan National de Formation).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Festival International de Géographie (FIG) Annual three-day geography festival held each October in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, featuring scientific conferences, literary events, cultural programming, gastronomy, cinema, and youth education activities across 20+ venues. Free admission for all visitors.
• Salon du Livre Amerigo Vespucci

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Ville Saint-Dié-des-VosgescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe host city provides the primary venue and institutional support for the festival. The city is the birthplace of Waldseemüller, who first named America on a map in 1507.
• Région Grand EstcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional government providing institutional funding and support for the festival as one of the most important cultural events in the Grand Est region.
• Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale et de la JeunessecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational education ministry supporting the Plan National de Formation (PNF) teacher professional development program held during the festival.
• Centre National du Livre (CNL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational book center supporting the literary programming and book fair aspects of the festival.
• Département des VosgescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDepartmental government providing regional support for the festival located in the Vosges department.
• Eurométropole de StrasbourgminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMetropolitan area of Strasbourg providing regional institutional support.
• Massif des VosgesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional tourism body for the Vosges mountain massif providing support.
• FNADTminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFonds National d'Aménagement et de Développement du Territoire providing territorial development funding.
• France CultureminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNational cultural radio station as media partner for festival coverage and promotion.
• LibérationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFrench newspaper as media partner for festival coverage.
• Le 1 HebdominorGTM or Marketing PartnerWeekly news magazine as media partner.
• Espace Georges-SadoulcoreOthersCultural venue in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges hosting major festival events including PNF sessions and scientific conferences.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Festival de l'Histoire de l'Art: Annual art history festival at Fontainebleau with conferences, exhibitions and educational programming. Comparable as a French cultural festival centered on a specific academic discipline.
• Printemps des Poètes: National French poetry event with educational outreach, public programming and institutional backing. Comparable in combining a thematic cultural celebration with broad public engagement and educational mission.
• Les Rencontres d'Arles: Annual photography festival in Arles with global prestige, award components, and educational programming. Comparable as a French cultural festival combining exhibitions, conferences and education with strong institutional backing.
• Festival Interceltique de Lorient: Major annual cultural festival in Brittany with comparable scale (hundreds of thousands of visitors), multi-venue footprint and public sponsorship base. Directly comparable in operating model as a regionally-anchored cultural festival.
• Les Boréales: Normandy-based festival celebrating Nordic and Baltic cultures, featuring conferences, exhibitions, cinema and literature. Comparable as a French regional cultural festival with academic and public-facing programming.
• Festival d'Avignon: France's largest performing arts festival, also a free/accessible multi-venue annual event supported by public funding. Comparable as a multi-disciplinary French cultural festival with similar public-institution revenue model.
• Rendez-vous de l'Histoire de Blois: Annual French history festival with conferences, book fair, and educational programming. Most directly comparable peer as a French multidisciplinary festival focused on a specific academic discipline (history vs geography) with similar structure.
• Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême: The world's leading comics festival with awards (Grand Prix), publisher presence (similar to FIG's Salon du Livre), and educational programming. Highly comparable in mixing cultural prestige, literary programming and youth engagement.
• Les Utopiales: Nantes-based international science-fiction festival mixing academic conferences, literary prizes and popular programming. Comparable in combining intellectual programming with broad public cultural appeal.

Broad incumbents

• Salon du Livre de Paris: France's largest book fair, broadly comparable to FIG's Salon du Livre component but at significantly larger scale. Comparable in combining literary prizes, author events and broad public engagement.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/infoFIG/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/festival.international.geographie
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/festival-international-de-geographie-fig

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Festival International de Géographie (FIG)