The festival aims to highlight the solidarity needed among members of the human race to fight current challenges such as climate change and war.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Together! event launched on 16 September brings eight days of interactive circus performances to the streets of Veszrpém in Hungary.
Artistic director Albin Warette - a French teacher and director at Le Lido, the famous circus school in Toulouse, France - says the festival aims to highlight the solidarity needed between members of the human race to fight current challenges such as climate change and war.
Twenty circus artists from Spain, Greece, Hungary and Ukraine are performing in public spaces with pieces created to allow the audience to take part.
The event is part of the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture programme. It was previously showcased this June in Elefsina, a Greek town named this year's European Capital of Culture.
Mota Marianthi, an artist from Greece, says the festival provides a bridge between the two countries.
"We were lucky to create a link between these two historic cities," she explains. "Elefsina is a historical city with its own mystery, and now we are coming here, to Veszprém, to relive our history,"
Warette believes some artists see taking part in the festival as a way of challenging authority.
"In France, there is a strong link with the revolution, it's part of our culture, and we can combine that with other cultures," he says. "It's fun to see this. In fact, I think this rebellion is shared in Europe. The desire to dig ever deeper is perhaps what we share most."
The festival ends on 23 September with the Grand Finale in the centre of Veszprém.
