The Pflasterspektakel (,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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

festival A festival is an event 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, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

, the capital of

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states 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, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

. 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 o ...

acrobatics Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance (ability), balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sports, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most ...

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

improvisational theatre Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, 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 ...

clown A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...

ery, fire dancing, painting,

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

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, a market place in

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

, which he visited during birthday celebrations for King

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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

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and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, including a samba group from

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. 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 A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

s in addition to the musicians. 1989, shortly before the fall of the

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, artists from

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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

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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 * '' ...

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

. 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 municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

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 (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

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