Chassepierre Festival International des Arts de la rue ended on August 17th and 18th in Chassepierre, a delightful and tiny fraction of the already small town of Florenville, in Belgium in Wallonia, near the border with the tiny city-state of Luxembourg. And it was beautiful.
Chassepierre Festival is primarily a Festival of Street Arts, but also of Performing Arts, Improvisation Theater, Dance, and Music. It will definitely surprise you with the vast range of activities on offer, in every corner of the delightful Belgian town something happens in these two days, whether it's music, dance, installations, or simply watching gnomes move home carrying a heavy load on their shoulders .
For this edition, Belgian, French, Spanish, Dutch, Czech and Swiss artists were seen: Joshua Monten with a dance-fight inspired by the Slapstick Comedy, Hotel Iocandi with a show halfway between music and circus, Defracto with Theater and juggling, Surrealist Theater of Fred Touch, Kadawresky with a theatrical performance plus skiing, music and tightrope walking by Les Filles du Renard Pale, The World General with circus of the absurd, circus virtuosity of Takapa, theatrical walks of La Passante, Teatropavana e Puurlain, Folk music of The Muddy States, The Groovy Gents and Folk Dandies, and so many more!
Many acts of the Festival are repeated several times a day and the next day too, so don't worry too much if you happen to miss a performance. The places of interest are marked by numbered signs and amount to 15: you can admire performances both in the pleasant Belgian village adorned with flower pots, and in the vast field in front of it.
What is mind blowing is being able to witness such a spectacular offer at a very low costno more than a few tens of euros. In summary, inside the village it is possible to attend installations, itinerant representations of masked dancers and actors, tightrope walkers who climb the roofs sometimes blocking the exits of taverns, and also conceptual shows which in this edition involved snails…
In the large clearing in front of Chassepierre, however, activities related to the Circus are mostly carried out, and numbers involving agility and dexterity sufficient to walk in balance on a tightrope in mid-air. In these parts there are also many stages where you can attend concerts and there is also the main bar and central marquee where you can drink excellent Belgian beer starting from 2 euros and dance until late at night wild dances with Celtic Folk notes.
As far as food is concerned, there are numerous taverns in the small Chassepierre that serve the most delicious dishes of the area, along the road that connects the town to the large green space you will also come across stands that serve exquisite Brussels or Liège-style Belgian Gaufre, a must try, and not distant from there is a shed that serves organic dishes from bakers and farmers of the province, therefore also on the food side Chassepierre Festival is absolutely promoted.
If you wish to attend surprising Performing Arts in a jewel village of Wallonia in Belgium, a hamlet of the small Florenville, go without delay to the Chassepierre Festival.
All the photos in this article were taken by Gerardo Iannacci and all rights to the above are reserved to him
