Dear Festival friend,

2020, March 1, about a light year ago.. 

Together with the team, I was putting the finishing touches to the musical content of what was to be our 63rd edition. Around 150 concerts were in the pipeline, with big names on the programme and some daring artistic choices. We felt proud, and were eagerly looking forward to the moment when we would be able to present everything to you.

But suddenly the lights went out. Astonished, we found ourselves staring into the face of that new, daily reality: Covid-19. Once the dust had settled after the first critical weeks, we made an assessment of the situation. Many colleagues had to immediately cancel the activities they had planned for the short term. For those activities due to take place after the summer, a number of scenarios were possible.

Flanders Festival Ghent then resolved to take decisive action. The programme for 2020 was moved in its entirety to 2021, and with much enthusiasm and creativity we started working on a new, adapted version. The focus was on all things small, local and coronavirus-proof.

Today we find ourselves somewhere between silence and music. A great deal is already possible, but not yet everything. We are balancing things, weighing things up. We certainly want to, but do we dare to already? In a short space of time, our brains have been filled with a huge volume of scientific input. We are inundated, with figures and curves, colour codes and graphs, analyses and predictions. More than ever, we feel how desperately our souls need nourishment. We need fantasy and imagination, we are longing for emotional input. Let this be the point at which the Arts step forward. And as a Festival, we exist in order to allow you to experience exactly that, in large, abundant quantities.

Flanders Festival Ghent 2020 will enter the history books as the edition with the most explosive preparation, but without a doubt as the small-but-perfectly-formed edition with the greatest possible impact.

Let Pärt or Beethoven take you by the hand and enjoy your Festival!

Veerle Simoens, Director
and the entire Flanders Festival Ghent team

* * *

Flanders Festival Ghent 2020 starts on Saturday, September 19. Click here for the full program.

* * *

Read our digital Festival brochure! (only in Dutch)

Would you like to learn more about Gent Festival 2020 and the artists who will enchant you this year? Then be sure to browse through our digital Festival brochure!

Do you prefer a brochure on the mail? That is also possible! Click here to submit your details and we will send you a copy as soon as possible.