The Pflasterspektakel (,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

for ''pavement spectacle'') is an annual street art

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

, the capital of

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, an ...

. It includes musical acts,

juggling Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object ...

, acrobatics,

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

improvisational theatre Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

, clownery,

fire dancing Fire performance is a group of performance arts or skills that involve the manipulation of fire. Fire performance typically involves equipment or other objects made with one or more wicks which are designed to sustain a large enough fla ...

, painting, samba parades, as well as a programme for children, and is held on three days in July in and around the main square and the Landstraße. In 2010, about 400 artists from over forty nations participated in the event.

History

The Pflasterspektakel was created by Siegbert Janko, cultural manager of Linz since 1985. He ascribes the idea to his impressions of

Djemaa el Fna Jemaa el-Fnaa ( ar, ساحة جامع الفناء ''Sāḥat Jāmiʾ al-Fanāʾ'', also Jemaa el-Fna, Djema el-Fna or Djemaa el-Fnaa) is a square and market place in Marrakesh's medina quarter (old city). It remains the main square of Marrakesh, ...

, a market place in Marrakesh, which he visited during birthday celebrations for King Hassan II of Morocco before 1985. The inaugural festival took place from 16 to 19 July 1987, under the name of ''Internationale Straßenmusikantentage'' (''International Street Musicians' Days''). It comprised about 150 musicians, most of them from

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, including a samba group from

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. It was decided that the event should be repeated the following year, this time under the present name of ''Linz Pflasterspektakel'' and featuring acrobats, magicians and

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...

s in addition to the musicians. 1989, shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, artists from Eastern Bloc countries performed in Linz. From this year onwards, organisers had to select artists because there were more applications than could be accommodated. In 2000, as well as some of the following years, over 250,000 visitors attended the Pflasterspektakel to see artists from

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, the

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, and Australia.

Time and locations

The Pflasterspektakel takes place on three days during the second half of July. The opening ceremony is held on a Thursday at 4 p.m.; on the following Friday and Saturday, the festival starts at 2 p.m. Closing time is at midnight each day, but some musicians play in pubs until 1 a.m. By tradition, spontaneously formed groups of artists improvise a finale (or several finales) on Saturday evening on the main square. Artists are performing at around forty locations throughout the city of Linz, in and around the main square and the Landstraße. Two courtyards are reserved for musicians playing

unplugged Unplugged may refer to: *Acoustic music, music not produced through electronic means * "Unplugged" (B.A.P song), 2014 * "Unplugged" (''Modern Family''), a 2010 episode of ''Modern Family'' Albums and EPs * ''Unplugged'' (5'nizza album), 2002 * '' ...

or a cappella. In case of rain, the event moves to the old city hall and other indoor locations.

Funding

The event is sponsored by the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

as well as LINZ AG, local newspapers and a bank. The artists are only paid for their travel costs, accommodation, breakfast, and 25

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s of cash per day for their expenses. Their main income is derived from visitors' donations.

References

{{coords, 48.3055, 14.2867, region:AT-4_type:event, display=title Festivals in Linz Street art festivals