The return to downtown Bossche, the beautiful weather, 48,000 visitors to performances (37,000 tickets sold, 11,000 visitors to the free programme) and a total of 100,000 visitors to the festival were the crowning glory of the 40th anniversary of Theatre Festival Boulevard.
'A homecoming that the team, artists and visitors experienced. The central location of the festival centre on the Parade meant that more spontaneous passers-by and day visitors were reached,' says director-director Dana Kibbelaar. 'At a festival that has been around for forty years, on the one hand you want to keep your familiar audience - which we managed to do - but you also bet on broadening your audiences.'
Boulevard 2024 hosted 120 companies. They offered a total of 588 performances, concerts, installations and talk show editions in the [cutting] fields of theatre, dance, music and visual arts.
The programme was broad and multifaceted, with some productions at unorthodox venues such as the Blijendijk estate, the IJzergieterij (Tramkade) and the Catharinakerk. Boulevard 2024 demanded audience surrender. That was true of the ritualistic opening performance Karrasekare (IgorXMoreno), but also for, say, an intimate solo by Lebanese dance maker Omar Rajeh. Visitors could be initiated into the Temple of Dreams Memoria or in the Realm of the Sick of iona&rineke. Festival-goers were touched by Schweigman&, Laika and Dries Verhoeven, met Misiconi and discovered the Bossche programme in Tent Purple - curated by Dukebox and dance maker Arjuna Vermeulen. The Tower stage, with a talk show, circus, dance and in the evening bands, proved to be a magnet for audiences of all ages.
Future Feels
For years, Theatre Festival Boulevard has had a partnership with Fontys Academy of the Arts (formerly known as 'The Entrance Prize') and Avans Creative Innovation. This year it flowed together in one place (Pand18), in one programme: Future Feels. The focus was on exchange and encounter: between new makers, their diverse disciplines, the field, the festival and the audience. The newly graduated new makers created a surprising programme that attracted many visitors.
Accessible festival
Boulevard pays a lot of attention to accessibility. In cooperation with the Unlimited Enjoyment Foundation, a stimulus-friendly reception was organised for the first time this edition. Eleven people who usually avoid theatre because of an excess of stimuli were now able to visit a rest room before the performance. Moreover, they could prepare for their visit through descriptions of the venue, the surroundings and the performance. A number of deaf-blind people also visited Boulevard in groups. Using four-handed sign language, they were introduced to creator Niels Weijer and some also saw his performance Arm Dances.
There was also a fine turnout at the performance with audio description. Beforehand, around 20 blind visitors and their companions were introduced to the actors and costumes in a meet and feel. During the performance, they received the description of what was happening on stage through headphones from a blind interpreter.
As part of the campaign Give an encore there were almost 500 generous visitors to the festival who donated an extra ticket for someone else. We were therefore able to host people from the AZC, Refugee Council, Quiet Community, the Language House and youth work PowerUp073, among others.
Daniële Streep, the recently appointed interim managing director, is impressed by what she has seen. 'A well-balanced programme that allowed visitors to take a moment to reflect on developments in the world or just have a fun night out. It was truly a celebration of 40 years of Boulevard, a city festival made by a flexible team, hundreds of tireless volunteers and many committed makers and partners.'
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