What's happening in FiraTàrrega?

Tàrrega, 4^th September 2014 - For four days FiraTàrrega will be transformed into the nerve centre of street art and performing arts. The Fair has designed over 30 events especially created to promote contact between agents (such as companies, art programmers, distributors), doubling the amount of proposals compared to last year's Fair: Contact between professionals is one of the main objectives and fundamental points of the Fair. FiraTàrrega actively supports this networking objective, not only through the organisation of more activities, but also through the high number of participating delegations, and the increased amount of assemblies and presentations. At the current time, 663 professionals from 369 different entities have already confirmed their participation in the 34th edition of the Fair. Of these, 377 are Catalan, 121 come from other parts of Spain and 165 are foreigners.  

The Fair welcomes a large international presence, from which we can highlight the attendance of new organisations that will be participating in the fair for the first time. One of our delegations will be introducing several professionals from Asia: three organisations from the Republic of Korea and five from Japan, who will be visiting the Fair for the first time, headed by the Performing Arts Market of Yokohama TPAM. The initiative is a new expansion from FiraTàrrega to the Asian market, within the framework of a project backed by the Culture Department of the Catalan Government (Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya). Of the other delegations, Finland will also be present at the Fair with twelve promoters who will participate at the Circus Info Finland stand, Italy will be present with thirteen art promoters from six organisations from C.U.L.T. - Danzarte i Europa, an association that is comprised of twelve groups from Circoestrada, a network of street and circus art, whose members include FiraTàrrega.

One of the main events of FiraTàrrega 2014 is the Network to Network group exchange, a meeting for 50 participating members from markets and associations around the world, such as the Association of Performing Arts Presenters - APAP (USA), the Performing Arts Market from Yokohama (Japan), the Golden Mask Festival and the Union of theatres (Russia), as well as the markets and main networks from Latin America, with Catalan and Spanish networks and associations. The exchange has the objective of opening the door to the promotion of Spanish artistic companies to international markets, and the meeting is part of the PICE project from Spanish Cultural Action AC/E.  

Dialogues, training sessions and presentations for professionals

The Fair hosts conferences, presentations and meetings for associations, within the framework of encouraging exchange and reflection among professionals in the field. Most of the events will take place at La Llotja, the main 1,100m² Fair building, which holds stands, auditoriums, meeting rooms, and the annual centre for professional relations, where all necessary services for professionals and the press can be found. Some outstanding professional activities (all held in Catalan, Spanish and English) that can be highlighted are: 

• Central European Focus. Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary present the current reality of scenic arts in countries in this part of the world. The main professional event will be the open dialogue on the situation of cultural and performing arts in Central Europe, which will evaluate the situation of culture and artistic creation, and the consequences of the current economic and political recession in the countries of this region. Topics will include aid to mobilisation, political problems in Hungary, and cultural cutbacks in Slovakia. The debate will be attended by representatives from the Czech Republic (the Arts and Theatre Institute, the Four Days association, Vertedance and Cirqueon), Poland, (Teatr KTO & ULICA - International Festival of Street Theatre in Krakow, Bytom Centre of Culture - Teatromania Int. Festival, Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute, FETA - International Street and Open-Air Theatres Festival) and Slovakia (Theatre Institute Bratislava). The dialogue will be open to all registered professionals.   ​
• Lunch Meeting organised by the Culture Department of the Catalan Government (Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya). This is the 9th year that FiraTàrrega has organised professional meetings. The Culture Department of the Catalan Government organises a meeting to give participating Catalan companies the opportunity to reach international markets through art programmers who might be interested in new productions from these companies.
• Presentation of the Street Art Platform, created from bringing together festivals, fairs and other exhibitions with this art discipline in common. The platform is an initiative from FiraTàrrega, Mediterranean Fair of Manresa (Fira Mediterrània de Manresa), Sismògraf Olot, Esbaiola't Esterri d´Àneu, Lluèrnia Olot, Circus at Olot Squares (Circ A Les Places d'Olot), Street Circus at Bisbal d'Empordà (Circ al Carrer de la Bisbal d'Empordà), HArt Lovers from l'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Per Amor a l'Hart de l'Hospitalet de Llobregat), Reus Trapeze Fair (Fira Trapezi de Reus), Festus: festival of street art of Torelló (festival d'arts de carrer de Torelló) and Street Art Viladecans (Al Carrer de Viladecans) 
• The 2nd Taste of Finland presentation - CircusInfo Finland, an organisation responsible for the development and support of Finish circus performance, and which shows the creativity, modernity and dynamism of circus art in Finland.
• Workshop: Interactions Between the Cultural Project and its Digital Platforms. How they Apply to Festivals. Hosted by Lluís Bonet, Tino Carreño, Joan Estadella, David Marquez and Marisol López, and organised by the Programme for Cultural Management of UB (University of Barcelona).
• Off the Record Session with the Circostrada Network. A meeting aimed at the exchange of information between promoters, about existing street artworks and productions to come. The session also focuses on emerging artists, with an informal discussion about artistic creation and the mapping of emerging artistic work and companies.
• Presentation of the Periferias network (Red Periferias), a network of regional festivals focusing on performing arts in Latin America.
• Other presentations: La Llotja will host presentations from the Euskal Teatroa companies that will be participating in the Fair, there will be selected proposals by Xarxa Alcover for new projects from the members of the Association of Professional Actors and Directors of Catalonia (AADPC) (Associació d'Actors i Directors Professionals de Catalunya), and for future meetings: TPAM at Yokohama, Japan, the workshops Jornades CREA by TTP; Mercartes in Valladolid; Sea Arts at the Balearic Islands, as well as the project Street (Carrer), sponsored by the Euroregion Pirineus Mediterrania, and headed by Le Cratère (Alès, Françe) which has the support of FiraTàrrega and which will host events at FiraTàrrega 2015.

In addition to these events, there will be several presentations targeted at the promotion of associations, and projects for the promotion of companies from Catalonia and around Europe. The companies and professionals who are members of the Association for Professional Actors and Directors of Catalonia (AADPC) (Associació d'Actors i Directors Professionals de Catalunya), the Theatre for all audiences - TTP (Teatre Tots Públics), and the Circus Association of Catalonia - APCC (l'Associació de Professionals del Circ de Catalunya) will be present at the Fair with communal stands to present themselves as a collective. International associations IFEA (International Festivals and Events Association), CULT Circuito Urbano Lombardo della Danza e del Teatro and Without Walls will also have stands where they will present current and future projects.

As well as La Llotja, all registered professionals will have access to the Professionals Club, a convenient, entertaining and informal space, which will be ideal for eating and relaxing before and after viewing shows or attending presentations and debates.

Related information

• Press release (PDF 121,12 Kb)