Paving spectacle starts on Thursday: what visitors can expect

Paving spectacle starts on Thursday: what visitors can expect

When in July 1987 the first plaster spectacle turned downtown Linz into the big stage for street art, music was the dominant role. This picture has changed over the decades. The 34th edition of the plaster spectacle, which begins on Thursday, will show that the focus of this art form has developed towards theater over the years, says festival director Kathrin Böhm.

Artistic and satirical

Of course, there are still musicians among the 102 artists or groups of artists who will be performing in the city center and at the new venue in Urfahr (AEC, fairgrounds) for three days from Thursday, but the street art has become more colourful. “The offer is very artistic and also satirical, with which one can react very quickly to current developments in the world,” says Böhm from the experience of ten years of organizational work.

In addition, she feels that her team is becoming much more professional, which of course is also due to the possibilities of the digital age. “There is no longer an application without your own YouTube video,” says Böhm. This gives you a good idea of ​​the quality of the performances.

274 artists in the city

By the way: There were 545 applications for this year’s plaster spectacle in Linz, from which the 102 acts were selected. 274 artists are guests in the city for three days and can enjoy Europe’s largest festival of its kind in its usual form. In the past two years, Corona had led to the cancellation or the greatly reduced form of the “street art summer” in the previous year.

The best pictures from the past year:

The jugglers are back!  Impressions of the plaster spectacleThe jugglers are back!  Impressions of the plaster spectacle

View picture gallery

Despite all the changes over the years, one thing has remained the same: “Street art creates encounters, conveys heart and soul, is diverse and spontaneous,” says Linz cultural director Julius Stieber, who has also been accompanying the festival for decades. The audience is literally on an equal footing with the performers and can enjoy five minutes of fame as one or the other spectator becomes part of the performance.

It starts with the cobblestone spectacle on Thursday, July 21, at 4 p.m., with the opening parade of all artists from OK Platz to Hauptplatz. This opening ritual shows what festival visitors can expect this year: comedy, clowning, acrobatics, juggling, fire and tightrope artistry, music, dance, figure and object theater – hourly at around 40 venues. (rgr)

spectacle knowledge

  • Seasons: July 21, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., July 22 and 23, from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m
  • 282 performances are planned every day at around 40 venues in the city center and on the new festival area in Urfahr. A total of 102 artists or groups of artists can be seen in Linz.
  • The eight spectacle oases, which offer seating comfort and a quiet ambience, are new venues. Hourly performances start on the forecourt of the New Town Hall, on the AEC Maindeck, in the Kunstuni courtyard, in the Klanghof Old Town Hall, on Herbert-Bayer-Platz, in the Landhaus-Arkadenhof, in the Bischofshof and in the seminary courtyard. The seats can be chosen freely.
  • This year the children will get their money’s worth at the kaleidoscope afternoons in the spectacle tent in Urfahr. A program specially tailored to families is offered on each of the three days from 4.30 p.m.
  • There is a scoop of ice cream up for grabs at the OÖ Nachrichten stand on the corner of Landstrasse and Spittelwiese!
  • Don’t forget hat money! Admission remains free at the festival, but the artists are happy about coins and bills.

Source: Nachrichten

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