Today in E-nspiration – A closer look at promotional festivals
The Re-Cyclists and their audience at Springfestival Zeist
In the past 10 days there were two promotion festivals for outdoor theater and festivals we want to take a closer look at. First: the relatively new Spring Festival – this year was the 4th edition – at Slot Zeist in the Netherlands. And second: The Winged City in Ieper in Belgium. The Spring Festival is organized by Stef Arntz / Streetwise and Slot Zeist itself. We played there this year with the Re-Cyclists. The festival in Ypres has been around for more than 15 years and is organized by CC Ieper / ACCI vzw i.s.m. VOKOR fv. We were there last year with our price-winning production NARANJA.
Lentefestival Zeist
In Zeist they were lucky again this year. With 18 to 20 degrees it was nice and warm and according to the organization you were able to watch 20 premieres, 50 shows and 100 artists. All that between 12:00 and 17:00 pm. See the program here. With 8,500 visitors, it was incredibly busy. A compact festival where you were able to get a good impression of the Dutch street- and festival-theater, as well as some variety-acts and acts from abroad. If you are a booker you could register as a VIP and you received a special treatment with an opening show accessible only for invited guests. According to the organisation, 450 people made use of this opportunity – customers with friends and family.
The Winged City of Ypres
Very different so in Ypres this year. It was ice cold during the two-day festival. People who persisted and followed the program spread throughout the city were completely frozen at the end of the day. But don’t worry, in the evening you could warm up at the bar in CC Perron till the small hours. While the (theater) groups come from far and wide – even from the US – to make a shot at playing during The Winged City, it sometimes seems that all revolves around the bar. There you will find a who is who of the Dutch and Belgian Festivals. As someone said: It is a bit like the New Year’s drink for the “scene”, the start of the season. Buckle-up, throw yourself in the crowd and go for social networking! And don’t forget your hiking boots during the day.
And the conclusion is….
The Winged City is a special festival with a huge attraction for artists and programmers, but also take a look at Zeist. There you can see beautiful street theater and entertainment laid back in just one afternoon.