Established in 1965, Aarhus Festival - one of the biggest in Scandinavia - lasts 10 days in late August / early September and presents a broad cultural programme, providing a wide range of events at all levels. It includes nearly every existing art form such as performing arts, classical and contemporary music, opera, rock, pop, jazz and folk music, film, visual and digital arts, urban interventions, literature, as well as symposia, sporting events and other forms of entertainment, and not the least outdoor events for kids, youngsters and adults. The citizens of Aarhus and festival dwellers contribute to keeping alive another main trait of Aarhus Festival, the annual celebration of the city, by literally invading the streets of Aarhus, bringing life and a unique atmosphere in many parts of town.
With its own harbour and university, Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark, beautifully located between the sea, forests and hills, on the eastern coast of Jutland, 300 km from Copenhagen.
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The official programme is divided into four different categories, of which the festival’s own programme (visiting companies, own productions or co-productions) is the first one. The second category concerns applications, mostly from artists and cultural entities in the Aarhus region, for projects that Aarhus Festival finds interesting, and agree in supporting financially. Thirdly there are on-going or specific co-operation projects with cultural institutions or other important festival partners. Finally there is a great number of independent events presented by local institutions and organisations that the Festival does not fund, but sometimes still supervises or coordinates, and which are included in the official programme. Aarhus Festival has plenty to offer to the general public and to larger audiences, for instance Spejlteltet (a Belgian mirror palace) with its succesfull cabaret shows and a special programme for the elderly,
as well as Universe, a futuristic tent-like construction designed especially for a central square in town by the American/Egyptian architect Hani Rashid. Universe is the Festival's major attraction in terms of activities and performances for kids during the day, and pop-rock concerts at night.
The triangular interface between local artists and cultural institutions, local citizens in general, and international artists is an important aspect of the Festival, a way of ensuring that the local scenes and audiences get first-hand inputs and impulses from the outside, as well as presenting local artists to a wider audience. |
3, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark 
