27.-31. August 2025 in Alkjær Lukke, Ringkøbing
Traditionelt har festivalen spredt sig bredt ud over Ringkøbing-Skjern kommune, for at nå så mange små byer som muligt. I denne 7. version af festivalen, har vi et nyt format. For første gang bliver festivalen afholdt på et, samlet sted, da festivalens tema er sammenhold. I denne tid fyldt med konflikt, krig og naturkatastrofer, er det vigtigt at føle varmen og skønheden ved vores fælles ånd, og styrken ved at holde sammen.
Therefore, we have created a central place where all can come together and bump into neighbours, meet old friends, make new ones, create collective experiences and memories and share art, food, laughter, sun, nature, and (and hopefully not too much rain!). And where more beautiful, fun and peaceful than betwixt and between the woods, lawns, paths and ponds of Alkjær Lukke?
Each day the festival will open with Thor’s Thunder, giant drums that will make thunder as an offering to Thor so that he might free us from bad weather for the duration of the festival. Then the performances will begin.
Another novelty of this edition of the festival is that, for the first time, there will be performances for babies. The prize winning LáQua from Italy and the musical GRO from Denmark are for newborns and toddlers. Audiences of all ages will enjoy the fun and physical performances of Dansk Rakkerpak with Under Uret and Batida’s comic and musical Til Helvede Med Paradis, be amazed by the epic Italian stilt performances with up to 20 performers of Teatro dei Venti’s Don Quixote, who brought us the stunning Moby Dick at the last festival, and the historic Teatro Tascabile di Bergamo’s Valse and The Light of Black. For those who enjoy an adventure Very Lost will take you to explore the world and Stjernevandring will invite you aboard their spaceship to explore outer space and if you ever wondered what lies beneath the waves, take the plunge with The Sentimental Ocean Workshop where inside a caravan you will experience the depths of the oceans in a miniature performance that lasts 15 minutes and is for only 7 spectators at a time. The visually poetic DAH will perform beneath the trees. The overriding themes that link all the performances are those of the beauty of our natural world, the tragedy of our times, the bravery of hope and the importance of acting together.
While you are eating, waiting for a show, or just hanging out in the sun the cheeky Mad Hatter on stilts and his chatty friend Nina the Tea Lady will welcome you, and may offer you a cup of tea and a laugh. And there is a Japanese lady performing a tea ceremony for those who enjoy the calm and the meditative. If you happen to bump into some giraffes strolling around you are welcome to stroke them, just make sure they don’t steal your sandwich! And while you enjoy a beer and food there will be a crooner to enhance the mood.
A festival is a holiday, a party, a meeting, an inspiration, a breathing together, a coming together, a being together. When the festival is over it feels like maybe it was just a dream, a flavour-full feast that you enjoyed and is now finished. Maybe it leaves a longing, that can be evoked by an image, a smell, a smile and it lives in our shared memories and experiences, as a nostalgia, a stimulus, a vision of the future. And then comes the next festival and the feast begins again.
Outreach events are taking place in schools in Ringkøbing.