The Winged City attracts international artists to Ypres

09 March 2022

In Ypres, the second weekend of April is all about circus and street theatre. After two cancelled editions, we can once again stare open-mouthed at the performances of international artists during 'De Gevleugelde Stad Ieper (City of Wings Ypres)'. Are you coming too?

De Gevleugelde Stad (Winged City) lures international artists to the heart of Ypres every year. Well, annually... Due to the coronavirus, the editions of 2020 and 2021 were cancelled.

The number of registrations shows that the artists are eager to perform. On the Facebook page of De Gevleugelde Stad, you can read that the number of registrations of street theatre and circus groups exceeds all expectations. That promises for the level of the different performances!

Free admission

The entrance to De Gevleugelde Stad Ieper (City of Wings Ypres) is completely free. The various performances take place in the historical town centre and on the fortifications. The promotion festival starts on Friday 8 April at 19h30 and continues on Saturday 9 April from 14h to 23h30. Also on Sunday you can enjoy various acts in the streets of Ypres from 14h00 to 19h30. Let's hope the weather gods are on our side!

More information about the festival and programming can be found here.

Taking care of each other

The Winged City of Ypres 2022 is more than ever about taking care of each other. The corona crisis has hit the cultural sector hard. I can hardly imagine what it must be like not to be able to present the act you have been working on for two years to an audience. Having to miss that interaction for two years straight must be terrible.

That is why the organisation chose a striking campaign image. The photo that you also see here at the top of the blog was taken by Paul Vanhaute in 2019. The picture shows two artists of the Bucraá Circus. The duo may look sad, but the image mostly evokes emotions of tenderness. Taking care of each other, that is what counts.

I suggest we go to The Winged City en masse so that the artists know that we too have missed them. Thanks to the relaxed coronation measures (hooray for code yellow), it is almost certain that the festival can go on normally for the full three days. No mouth masks so that the artists can clearly see the amazement on our faces. That will surely make them happy!