Villeneuve-d’Ascq is a northern city in the Hauts-de-France region, in the heart of the metropolitan area of Lille, the capital of the département, which it borders. It is a new town born in 1970 from the merger of three municipalities: Ascq, Annapes, and Flerq-lez-Lille, as part of a government plan to unblock certain metropolises.
In fact, Villeneuve-d’Ascq has grown rapidly from 11,600 inhabitants in 1968 to about 63,000 today. It hosts a large number of university campuses, tertiary activities centers (scientific research, trade, business), and equipment serving the entire metropolis of Lille, such as the Pierre-Mauroy stadium. Urbanization has, however, been accompanied by the preservation of a certain living environment since the territory has 200 hectares of natural areas and six lakes. But for the visitors or tourists staying in the region, it is also the important cultural vitality of Villeneuve-d’Ascq, via its many museums, in particular, that will amply justify a stage.