Green Light for Basel Theatre Festival 2020!

Dear audiences, festival friends and fans,

Finally, we never gave up hope but it did feel like we had to wait an eternity for confirmation. But it’s official and we’re over the moon: Come and experience Basel Theatre Festival 2020 live on the city’s stages from 26 August to 6 September 2020!

The festival will be somewhat different to the one we originally had in mind back at the end of last year. Things have changed rapidly and dramatically since then. We’ve had to review and adjust our programme time and time again over the past few weeks. Many hours have been spent on the phone, zooming and considering artistically interesting alternative formats. The majority of the international festivals with which we work closely are unlikely to take place in their usual format this year, which has led to the cancellation or postponement of many international tours. Even though we now know that, in all probability, we'll be able to experience theatre and dance productions live in Basel at the end of August, it’s likely to be uncertain for quite some time which of the invited international guests will actually be allowed to enter Switzerland.

But we can promise that in August and September you can look forward to another twelve busy and exciting festival days, turning Basel into a unique theatre venue: In both the city centre and surrounding areas, in theatre spaces, a circus tent and the open air, at Kaserne Basel, ROXY Birsfelden, Theater Basel, neuestheater.ch, junges theater basel, and now also in Theater Palazzo Liestal and Kulturzentrum Alts Schlachthuus in Laufen, you can expect a magical theatrical experience.

Here’s a taste of some of the highlights that await you! The full programme will be published on 11 August.

There’ll be a wide range of genres and styles on offer, from renowned dance and theatre productions to performances, new circus and installative works. In both traditional settings and more experimental ones, you’ll have the opportunity to catch up with old faces and discover new, powerful voices. The one thing they all have in common though is immense power, energy and, in particular, a desire to view the world from a different angle: challenging the familiar perspectives of society and individuals, while exploring other perspectives and inventing new narratives. Especially in times of crisis and uncertainty, it's these important artistic voices that are capable of activating new discourses and offering models for future coexistence beyond established structures. We believe having the opportunity to hear and experience them is now more important than ever.

Needless to say, we’ll be implementing a carefully planned hygiene concept at all the venues and at the festival centre to ensure you can look forward to a relaxed and safe theatre experience!

Advance sale tickets or digital tickets are now available for the announced performances at See Tickets. Buying a pack of six makes great sense for avid theatre-goers and festival fans..

Many thanks in anticipation,

Sandro Lunin, Katharina Germo, Hannah Pfurtscheller (programme team) and the whole festival team