The first Rencontres took place in Grenoble, from the 1st to the 9th of July 1989. They were born from the “halo” of the European Theatre Festival which, since 1985, has presented, every year in Grenoble, the plays staged by European professional companies and performed in their original language.

The young European Theatre Rencontres is part of the huge tradition of cultural and artistic events whose Le Festival d’Avignon de Jean Vilar has been until today one of the most successful examples. They are not only a Young European Theatre Festival but it is also a place of exchanges and dialogues; a theatrical place, a citizens’ place; a place of Rencontres. They are the Enlightenment’s heirs, both reason and mind.