Big turnout for Tàrrega's international street arts festival

For a few days every year the western Catalan town of Tàrrega becomes the world's capital of street performance, attracting hundreds of professionals from all over the world.

This year was no different, as the 39th edition of the FiraTàrrega international street arts festival came to a close on Sunday boasting 990 professionals from 31 countries.

Over the weekend, Tàrrega's streets were filled with performances of all kinds and for all audiences, offering some 42 different shows over the three days it lasted.

Identity, territory, commitment and reflection

This year's festival, the first for new director Anna Giribet, revolved around four central themes: identity, territory, commitment and reflection.

Giribet declared herself "delighted" by the success of this year's festival, and with good reason, as 93% of tickets sold out while the free performances drew large crowds.

The new director was also happy about the response to putting more emphasis on shows in public spaces and said they would continue to do the same in future editions.

As well as Tàrrega's streets and squares, other public venues included schools, factories and sports centers, and included nearby villages, such as Figuerosa.

Another aim of the festival was to boost the professional side of the event by reorganizing of resources and services to aid relations between companies and producers.

Foreign artists

Of the 990 professionals taking part in this edition, some 625 were from Catalonia, 185 from other parts of Spain and 180 from abroad.

Foreign artists were mainly from the UK, France, Italy and South Korea, with debuts for professionals from Lithuania, Morocco, Congo, Taiwan, China and the US.

Next year, the FiraTàrrega festival will celebrate its 40th edition, from September 10 to 13.