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According to Spain’s White
Paper on Showcase Theatre
Fairs (Bilbao 2006),
“Showcase fairs for the
performing arts are designed
to boost the theatre
industry, by driving the
expansion of this sector
from the moment they
increase commercial dealings,
increasing sales. The fairs
thus fulfil three
interrelated roles: firstly,
they are a showcase;
secondly, they bring
producers and consumers into
contact, understanding the
latter to be those
programmers who attend with
a view to hiring, and
thereby arrange the schedule
for their theatres or design
their cultural programmes;
and finally, they are a
distribution channel for the
performing arts”.
These are the common goals
that generically define the
work of the 14 fairs that
are members of COFAE,
yet in addition there is a
series of specific goals
that distinguish and define
each one of the fairs and
which mean that both the
professionals attending them
and the companies applying
to take part choose them, on
the one hand, as platforms
for launching their shows,
and on the other, for
exchanging and hiring.
The differentiating
aspects of the Showcase
Theatre Fair of Castilla y
León have been achieved by
tending to a project that
seeks to strike a balance
between the prominence
and highlighting of the
scheduled productions,
and the personalised
care for the professionals
who come to see the
performances, bearing in
mind the involvement and
knowledge of the spectators
attending, blending all this
with the wholehearted
commitment of a city that is
so privileged to host an
event that is unique in
Castilla y León.
The event has now been held
eleven times, going to show
that Ciudad Rodrigo is a
true “market” and a place
where performing and hiring
go hand-in-hand. Yet
this is not its sole
achievement, for also, in a
stable and lasting manner,
this fair project has
managed to promote the local
culture, tourism and economy.
The Showcase Theatre Fair of
Castilla y León is one of 14
fairs held in Spain, but it
has numerous reasons for
being chosen by the 600
companies that have
submitted an application to
take part, or by the 250
professionals who chose
to attend to select their
programmes in 2008, or even
by the 30,000 spectators
who every August flood this
“Theatre City”, a
crossroads for those
travelling from Europe to
Portugal and from north to
south along the westernmost
frontier on the Iberian
Peninsula.
Find your own reasons for
attending the 12th edition
of the Showcase Theatre Fair
of Castilla y León, from
25 to 29 August 2009.
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