Tarrega’s theatre fair is a much known cultural event in Spainand abroad and it has been converted a referent. Every September this event shows the cultural behave of Tarrega, a city situated in Lleida. As a consequence of its success Tarrega’s theatre fair model is being exported to other cities in the country.
With the idea to change the festival in Tàrrega, in 1981 was born “FiraTàrrega” and event that would encourage people to get involved in the festival and put the whole town to the service of a concrete project, in this case, for the theatre. As a consequence, it brought a fresh impetus to the traditional festival and streets were recuperated as a meeting space and a cultural collective demonstration.
“FiraTàrrega” was born thanks to that moment mayor, Eugeni Nadal, and was a consequence of a mix of ideas: transform the Tarrega’s festival in a bigger festival, encourage people to participate and put city places to the service of this cultural project.
From the original festival, the fair has changed a lot and got more professional until being a socio-cultural phenomenon with unique features. Its festive behaviour and its will to being a theatre demonstration fair, where theatre companies coming all over the world show their works, are some of these special features.
The main importance of Tàrrega’s Theatre Fair is that Tàrrega is also important because its influence in theatre industry. Nowadays, this fair is a market where theatres’ manager can buy or sell shows that will be on the agenda on the next season on main theatres and festivals.
Photography: Jesús Vilamajó