PRESS RELEASE – FIBD 2026 – Monday, November 10, 2025
PRESS RELEASE
Monday, November 10, 2025
On Saturday, November 8, following a predictable call for proposals, the FIBD association announced its decision to renew the contract of the 9e Art+ company as the organizer of the Festival international de la bande dessinée d’Angoulême for another nine years.
Once again, the FIBD has demonstrated its inability to listen to the comic book world, which for many months has overwhelmingly been rejecting the reappointment of this company and of its director, Franck Bondoux, for reasons that have already been widely explained.
Not completely unaware of the risks it was taking, the FIBD believed it could wriggle itself out of the situation by requiring 9e Art+ to join forces with the Cité de la bande dessinée, the other finalist in the call for projects. But the opposite is happening : following the press release from local authorities, it is the Cité that is being forced to join forces with 9e Art+, even though Vincent Eches, the director of the Cité, has expressed his opposition to this unnatural partnership in a letter. The power dynamics within a structure that would bring together 9eme Art+, the FIBD, and the Cité would inevitably be unfair to the latter.
Once again, the FIBD has demonstrated its contempt for the opinions of others, and it is indeed 9e Art+, and only 9e Art+, that retains sole control over the festival. This is a clear case of private interests taking over an event that has long been in the public interest, whatever Delphine Groux, president of the FIBD, may think.
Public partners (with the exception of the State) saw fit to approve this explosive combination without consulting the interprofessional association. They want to believe Franck Bondoux’s promise to step down from the festival’s management after the 2027 edition. Do they ignore that Franck Bondoux owns the company 9e Art+, the company Partnership Consulting (in charge of commercial partnerships), as well as the brand 9e Art+ — a brand that has become toxic for a large part of the profession, like its leader ? On September 25, Franck Bondoux sent a threatening letter to public partners warning them that he would take legal action to have the procedure canceled and claim damages if 9e Art+ was not reappointed.
This predictable outcome puts the festival in an explosive situation.
Never before has the danger been so real of seeing the most important comic book event disappear. With this consultation, which is nothing more than a sham, the FIBD is threatening the very existence of the event it claims to protect.
As a result, the S.E.A. denounces the outcome of this call for projects, which is marred by deliberate opacity and the refusal to apply rules guaranteeing the impartiality of the process. The S.E.A. demands the immediate invalidation of this insincere result and calls on the public authorities to bring together the entire profession to implement a profound reform of the festival and a radical change in its governance.
The S.E.A. calls for the resignation of Delphine Groux, whose irresponsibility and obstructionism have, from day one, blocked the exchanges that the representatives of artists and publishing houses have attempted to build.
The S.E.A. calls for the dissolution of the company 9e Art+ and for the teams to be taken over by the future structure that will be responsible for organizing the festival.
The S.E.A. warns that if the opinions of artists and publishers are not taken seriously, the consequences will be significant and likely irreversible. Starting in 2026. Then in 2027. And perhaps forever. Many S.E.A. publishers have already canceled their booths for the 2026 edition; others will soon follow suit.
Let’s put an end to the contempt and procrastination. The comic book industry, in all its forms, will not tolerate any longer that the festival that represents it ignores the anger it has been expressing for years. We must urgently come to our senses!
The Union of Alternative Publishers