On its 20th anniversary one of the most important theatre festivals in Poznan changes its name and format. But the fans of the Poznan theatre fair have nothing to worry about: like every year, at the turn of June and July the Poznan parks, squares, halls and courtyards will turn into theatre and concert stages.

This year the Poznan festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The event started as a street festival to become one of the most important artistic festivals in our part of Europe.
From now on it will not be the International Theatre Festival but Malta Festival Poznan. Why is that?

?For years, the Malta has not been a theatre festival only. On the contrary, of equal significance are music, Dance, performance and other artistic projects, for example from the field of visual arts. Hence, the ?theatre? designation does not really indicate the nature of the Festival today,? explains Joanna Stankiewicz from the Malta Festival Poznan press office.
This year?s festival also brings changes in the programme concept. For the first time in the history of the Festival, a leading theme is introduced which, in this year?s edition, will be the Flemish theatre.
The event to open the Festival this year is a two-hour concert of Jacques Brel?s songs at the Poznan Arena.
Within the THEATRE/PERFORMANCE theme, apart from Flemish shows staged in enclosed venues, the following companies will present their shows in the Poznan?s open city space: Compagnie Ex Nihilo (France), Twożywo (Poland), Ondadurto Teatro (Italy), Teatro Due Mondi (Italy), Periplum (United Kingdom), Movements Factory (Poland), Akademia Ruchu (Poland), Compania De Paso (Switzerland/Chile), and Divadlo Continuo (Czech Republic).

Another promising event is the happening prepared by Joanna Rajkowska who came up with the idea of building a minaret tower on the chimney located at the crossroad of Estkowskiego and Garbary streets.  

The MALTA International Theatre Festival has been held in Poznan since 1991 and, today, is the largest theatre festival in this part of Europe. Its name draws on the name of an artificial lake situated in Poznan whose banks provided the location for the first open-air shows. Starting from the first edition, every year the festival attracted more and more companies and spectators thirsty for the contact with open-air theatre. Every year, in the course of several days and nights of the festival, more than 100,000 spectators watches several dozen diversified shows and concerts.
Streets, parks, squares, courtyards, market halls, abandoned factories, areas around Lake Malta and many other locations are adapted for the purposes of the festival.

A detailed programme of the festival is available at www.maltafestival.pl