Imaginarius – Festival of Performing Arts in Public Space, in Santa Maria da Feira, received 1,200 applications from artists of 84 countries for the 2027 edition, an unprecedented number in the history of the festival's calls for proposals. The previous maximum was recorded in 2018, with 295 proposals from 49 countries.
Spain leads the applications with 200 proposals, followed by Brazil with 170 and France with 117. Also standing out are Italy with 67, Portugal with 59, Germany with 48, the United Kingdom with 45 and Argentina with 32 applications, demonstrating an incomparable geographic diversity.
The Santa Maria da Feira municipality bet on artistic qualification and reinforced support, extending the festival to new international networks. For the first time, the call establishes a fee per person and per performance, plus a travel grant. The selection of the 18 projects should be completed by October 15.
Paulo Marcelo, the Culture Councilor of Santa Maria da Feira City Hall, highlighted that growth occurred not only in quantity and geographic diversity but also in the artistic consistency of the applications, with projects of contemporary languages and disruptive approaches to public space.
