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In Nantes & Saint-Nazaire, Cultural and Creative Industries (ICC) embody both the territory’s identity and a major potential for growth and job creation. This vibrant sector is expanding and becoming more structured, particularly around the Halles Alstom and the new Création District on the Île de Nantes.
A thriving hub for creativity
Nantes Saint-Nazaire enjoys a national reputation for creativity and increasingly attracts leading figures from the creative industries, making this sector a strong pillar of the local economy. There are over 9,000 businesses and nearly 35,000 private-sector jobs, including 13,700 in purely creative roles, covering everything from creation to distribution. The region boasts diverse creative sectors: design and architecture, fashion and performing arts, digital and multimedia creation, motion design, publishing, media and advertising, visual arts, and video games. This diversity contributes to high-quality urban renewal across the metropolitan area. Nantes Saint-Nazaire has invested in dedicated creative facilities that stimulate artistic expression and attract new talents. Throughout the year, Samoa offers support programs to help creative and cultural businesses emerge and grow.
Halles 1 & 2: A hub dedicated to creativity
In the heart of the Création District on Île de Nantes, near the iconic Machines de l’Île elephant, the Halles 1 & 2 are dedicated to creative and cultural initiatives led by local stakeholders. The site offers incubators, business nurseries, and shared offices to accommodate creative and cultural industries.
Inside this renovated former industrial hall, you’ll find 3,400 m² of space organised as a platform for ideation, prototyping, project development, and showcasing innovation. Around twenty creative startups are hosted and supported by Samoa, benefiting from a rich and collaborative ecosystem. Around the central gallery, 15 event spaces offer maximum flexibility for hosting business and cultural events.
Key figures
13 700
creative jobs
+20%
annual growth in cultural and creative business creation in Nantes and +16% in Saint-Nazaire
3 400 m2
dedicated to creative activities
A showcase for cultural creativity
On the Nefs plaza, the Machines de l’Île offers a unique artistic spectacle, showcasing Nantes’ creativity atop a giant mechanical elephant. Within 15 hectares, the district hosts creative companies, top-tier schools, and research labs. The city’s vibrant music scene converges at La Fabrique, a hub for contemporary music, with rehearsal studios, creation spaces, and performance venues.
Nantes: A playground for production studios
Around thirty studios are shaping the video game scene in Nantes:
- Beemov, a leader in visual novel games,
- Ludicius, specialised in serious games for businesses,
- and numerous indie studios diversifying the local gaming scene.
At the intersection of video games and graphic design, motion design is a thriving niche in Nantes. The Atlangames cluster plays a key role in this creative ecosystem, offering a cozy coworking space in the heart of the Création District.
A hub for creative education
The Création District also hosts many specialised schools, including:
- École supérieure des Beaux-Arts,
- École nationale supérieure d’architecture,
- ESMA Cinécréatis (cinema and audiovisual school),
- and the Graphic Arts Cluster (including La Joliverie High School and Grafipolis printing industry school). The Audencia SciencesCom communication school is also based here at the Mediacampus.
