Finally after many emails I got to meet Emmiliina one of the festival production assistants. I was given an artist pack and I had the chance to get more information about best places to hang my banner. I was a little disappointed not to have made the festival paper listings however I do feel social media is the better way to promote my work. I was told that I wasn’t listed as it was a research piece and because it was roaming there was no specific location to print. Looking at the other performances and response to programming it seems that my piece is not the usual thing you would see here. However, this doesn’t really bother me as I want to engage with a wider public and it is being promoted on the festival website. I was keen to get my piece promoted on Facebook and Twitter as I feel it is the best way to spread the word of were I will be in the city on the day.
I have to say that the whole festival has been well promoted across the city on banners, boards, posters, papers and flyers. I decided to do my research performance on Thursday and Saturday 1pm – 5pm as these are the busiest festival days. On Thursday The Great Nocturnal Happening is on all day and night and depending on the response to my banner I may work longer on Thursday. Being part of events always makes it difficult to go and see other performances. In the main programme I really want to see ASH & MONEY that is a documented film about the Estonia theatre NO99 who created a new political party. The party had a conference and 7000 people arrived. I am pleased to see that this is free event although most theatre shows are around €30.
During my stay here I want to see how the fringe events are programmed, managed and the artistic content of them. Both OFF and The Great Nocturnal Happening have an open invitation to performers, individuals, groups, associations and local business’s. I wonder whether non professional artists really participate in these events? From my experience of audiences here Finnish people seem quite reserved but maybe I’ve got this wrong and given an open invitation are all wild performers. I guess I will find out soon enough…
http://www.teatterikesa.fi/in_english/the_great_nocturnal_happening/
http://www.teatterikesa.fi/in_english/the_main_programme/international-performances/case-estonia-ash-money/
