Ghent Festival of Flanders (Gent Festival van Vlaanderen)
All images courtesy of Gent Festival van Vlaanderen (see credits below)
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| Country and Region | Belgium — Flanders |
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| Type of Festival | Music |
| Location of Festival | Gent, Flanders, Belgium |
| Festival Contact Information | Gent Festival van Vlaanderen |
| Festival Description | In 2012, Ghent Flanders Festival will present its 55th edition (15-29 September 2012). Attracting over 55,000 visitors each year, the Festival has become the talk of the music scene with events like “Avanti!” (a musical cycling tour), its Venetian ball, “KidsOdeGand” and “OdeGand” (the grand opening event). The festival’s success is in great part due to its unique mix of diversity and creativity. Each year, over 180 concerts (classical and world music) are presented by more than 1500 (inter)national artists. Ghent Flanders Festival is different in that it is only content if it can present the very best. |
| Festival Dates | September 15 - 29, 2012 |
| Festival Links |
Festival Story:
In 2012, Ghent Flanders Festival will present its 55th edition (15-29 September 2012). Attracting over 55,000 visitors each year, the Festival has become the talk of the music scene with events like “Avanti!” (a musical cycling tour), its Venetian ball, “KidsOdeGand” and “OdeGand” (the grand opening event). The festival’s success is in great part due to its unique mix of diversity and creativity. Each year, over 180 concerts (classical and world music) are presented by more than 1500 (inter)national artists. Ghent Flanders Festival is different in that it is only content if it can present the very best.
Not Just in Downtown Ghent!—The choice of Ghent, with its impressive architectural heritage, as the Festival’s heart was no accident. Yet, each year, countless villages and communes in the surrounding East Flanders province are firmly involved in this celebration of music, now universally known as “Flanders Festival International Ghent”.
Artistic Direction—Flanders Festival has become a household name both in Belgium and abroad, with a strong following that keeps growing year after year. This growth is in large part due to the inspiring leadership of Messrs. Jan Briers (father and son) and the oftentimes prophetic vision of artistic directors like Gerard Mortier, Dirk Struys, Serge Dorny, Bert Schreurs and Jelle Dierickx. Since November 2011, Isaline Claeys is the artistic director of Ghent Festival of Flanders.
In 1972, for instance, the Festival staged its first large-scale happening in all of St. Peter’s Abbey’s available halls. The current success of “OdeGand”, the grand opening event on and along Ghent’s canals, and “Avanti!”, a musical cycling tour along East Flanders province’s most idyllic tracks, can therefore rightfully be considered the continuation of a long-standing tradition. Pop and world music were quickly added to Flanders Festival’s programme to provide an inspiring contrast and confrontation with western classical music, which has been the staple until this very day.
Not just Flemish composers from the polyphonic era were unearthed to general acclaim — Flanders Festival also spawned an impressive number of now world-famous Belgian musicians like Philippe Herreweghe, Sigiswald KuijkenPaul Van Nevel and Jos Van Immerseel. Obviously, the Festival also invited all major international stars to perform in Ghent: Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado, Valery Gergiev, Anne Sophie von Otter, Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, Janine Jansen, Renaud Capuçon, Maurice Béjart, Luciano Pavarotti, Gustav Leonhardt, Wiener Philharmoniker, Barbara Hendricks, Yo-Yo Ma, Kiri Te Kanawa, Benjamin Britten, Leonard Bernstein, Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle, José Carreras, Philip Glass, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, les Ballets C de la B,…
Festival Events:
Programming 2012:
- The full program can be found on the festival’s web site after May 2, 2012
http://www.gentfestival.be/programma
http://www.gentfestival.be/en/programme English version
Other Sources:
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Practical Info:
Photo slideshow credits:
- In order of appearance
- Avanti!
- Avanti!
- Avanti!
- BBC Symphony Orchestra
- Escolania de Montserrat
- Dancer Isabel Bayon
- KidsOdeGand Parade
- KidsOdeGand
- KidsOdeGand
- Me And My Cello
- OdeGand, photo by Bert Temmerman
- OdeGand (accordionist), photo by Bert Temmerman
- Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest
- Slotconcert
- Spectra Ensemble
- Topology
- Venetiaans Bal — red dress on stilts
- Venetiaans Bal — dancing women
- Venetiaans Bal — dancing women
- Lit dome, photo by Werner Vermeylen
- OdeGand 2011, photo by Wouter Rawoens
- BBC Symphony Orchestra, photo by Olivier Deschrijver
Venues:
- Music Center De Bijloke, Jozef Kluyskensstraat 2, B 9000 Ghent
- Flemish Opera, Schouwburgstraat 3, B 9000 Ghent
- St. Bavo Cathedral, Sint-Baafsplein, B 9000 Ghent
- Art Center Vooruit, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 23, B 9000 Ghent
- Royal Conservatoire, Hoogpoort 64, B 9000 Ghent
- Ghent High Court, Koophandelsplein 23, B 9000 Ghent
- St-Michiels Church, Sint-Michielsplein z/n, B 9000 Ghent
Ticketing 2012:
- Tickets are on sale from May 3, 2012
- Information can be found online at http://www.gentfestival.be/en/points-sale
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