In order to be a truly self-sufficient production centre for shows, it is essential for the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence to have its own construction facility. The construction Workshops for sets and costumes for the Festival were built in 1997 in Venelles, seven kilometres from Aix-en-Provence.

They are comprised of a permanent technical department, in which the design department is responsible for ensuring the feasibility of stage design projects, a construction workshop where woodwork, painting, sculpture, metal work and other activities can be performed along with a costume workshop. Half the surface area taken up by the construction workshop consists of a vast assembly and painting area which, when the time is right (i.e. from mid-May) is transformed into two rehearsal studios able to house an exact sized replica of the scenery at the Théâtre de l'Archevêché, or even an orchestra with seventy musicians.

In addition to these production and rehearsal areas, there are storage rooms for costumes, accessories and scenery from summer shows as well as the lighting and audiovisual equipment for the Festival.  

The Venelles workshops form a coherent whole, which allows participants from each production to work close to the area where rehearsals are being held and gives a real cohesion to the Festival's work.

During winter 2004, Dido and Aeneas by Purcell, a production by the European Academy of Music was successfully presented for the first time at the Venelles Workshops and put on again during the 2006 Festival. An excellent way for festival goers to discover this vital area.