Imaginarius – International Street Theatre Festival is preparing to welcome 178 artists from 16 countries and finalize preparations for four days of celebration of the full return of street arts to the public space of Santa Maria da Feira, between 26 and 29 May . From the large-format show, open to thousands of people, to the more intimate performances for 20 spectators per session, the programme includes 37 artistic projects, in a total of 140 free-access presentations on 13 unconventional stages in the historic centre and its surroundings.
The main programme includes ten daring, interventional and inclusive proposals, based on interdisciplinarity and creative freedom, covering street theatre, magie nouvelle, contemporary circus and the new circus, urban dance, physical theatre and music.
The Imaginarius Infantil section once again provides children and families with playful, educational and multidisciplinary arts experimentation, mostly on the Rossio stage, a privileged space for meeting artists and cultural enjoyment.
In this edition, the international competition Mais Imaginarius presents 15 projects from 13 nationalities, which cross different artistic disciplines: theatre, dance, music, circus, performance, installation and multidisciplinary. The winning project will be awarded an artistic residency to create a show with a guaranteed premiere in 2023.
The festival also resumes its commitment to supporting creation for the public space, centred on a changing contemporary world. Coincidentally, the five Imaginarius Creations start from a notion of time to reflect on pressing issues such as privacy, gender, memory, forgetting and celebration.
A meeting place for agents in the street arts sector, Imaginarius PRO once again privileges the strengthening of partnerships between artists and programmers during the three days of the festival, focusing on the promotion of Imaginarius Creations and emerging artists, also bringing relevant topics to the discussion, such as community participation and security in planning major events.
In its 21st edition, the festival continues to focus on tools to support accessibility, guaranteeing conditions for all audiences to fully enjoy the programme, offering shows with translation into Portuguese Sign Language (LGP) and audio description (AD), wheelchairs and spots reserved for people with reduced mobility.
Also at the table, Imaginarius is a stage for experiences that praise gastronomy as a unique form of art and creativity. The official Sabores Imaginarius restaurants present gastronomic creations based on local and seasonal products, and reveal their creativity in cooking and plating. Thematic menus are accessible here.
The entire programme of the festival has free access, with four shows requiring prior registration, considering their format and typology.
On Thursday, 26 May, Imaginarius opens at 9 pm and closes at 11pm. On Friday and Saturday, 27 and 28 May, the shows take place between 2pm and 2am. On Sunday, 29 May, the last day of the festival, the programme starts at 10am and ends at 1pm.
The complete programme is available here.
