Shakespeare Festival in Barcelona will not be continued
Lately we have been faced with hearthbreaking news. Our member -Shakespeare Festival in Barcelona will not be continued anymore.
Festival already has been facing many difficulties in the past. ESFN representatives do understand this extremly tough decision, however we hope to have some future cooperation.
Here is an official statement from Organizing Director :
I would like to inform you that we are not going ahead with the Festival anymore. As you know these last years have been really hard; we moved to Barcelona with the aim of becoming established and keep growing. We’ve had a lot of support from the people of the profession and also the press who gave us strength after Mataró’s cancellation. We’ve also received the support of the institutions, but we thought that within three years we would get a minimum for not having to work in such uncertain conditions. It has not been that way. And another year we find ourselves in the same situation: trying to work with a low budget; this time we are not able to proceed. We cannot get off the ground the Festival the way we think it should be. The truth is that we are tired of working in such conditions. And it hurts. But it feels like the institutions were fine with the existing Festival and they took for granted that it could move forward with our own effort and thrill. Not anymore. We have reached a point in which we wonder what is the point of all this. And at the end, one comes to the conclusion that the sense lies on our own strength and sacrifice and generosity, and the colleagues’, artists and all the people who work with quality and accuracy in order to give sense to the culture of our country. At the end, one realizes that the cultural policy of the country goes through other paths.
I wish the best to the network. I will keep informing you about the interesting stuff going on in Catalonia about Shakespeare, and do not hesitate to contact us for any help you need. I truly hope that we will keep in touch and I will keep coming your Shakespeare Festivals as a viewer.
Montse Vellvehi
It is devastating news for the whole network . Thank you for all these years of excellent work . We are looking forward to continue our cooperation in the future.