Zomer van Antwerpen (ZVA), or Summer of Antwerp, now exists thirty years. In these three decades, I have only rarely attended activities or performances because they often clashed with my work schedule, travel plans or were sold out. Still, ZVA has been a fixture of Antwerp summers and is very popular. This year the festival is schedules for 20 June until 1 September 2024. 

In its thirtieth edition, Summer of Antwerp offers accessible and grand attractions, such as a light castle on the Operaplein or aerial acrobatics at the Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS). ZVA combines theatre, circus, film and other art forms. 

800 events attract around 300,000 visitors. The range does not usually include popular names, but often young artists who are guided in early projects at special locations in the city and its districts. In its thirtieth edition, Zomer van Antwerpen remains true to that tradition with classics such as neighborhood concerts, open-air cinema or the wooden grandstand of the Zonsondergang on the Tavernierkaai (Sunset at Tavernierkaai).

Performance highlights

• ‘Terces‘ from Cirque Ici stands out among the three paying circus performances.
• Michaël De Cock, an actor from Antwerp but also chief of the Brussels KVS, travels back to Antwerp ’93, Culture Capital of Europe, for the monologue ‘Only Imagination‘.
• In ‘This Looks a Bit Like a Cactus‘, Bad van Marie in the Stuivenberg district also takes visitors in tow. In their wake: the musicians of Zwerm.
• Laika & FroeFroe bring in a brass band for ‘Tortot‘. A story of muppets in a field kitchen. 

Berchem Sport

Hans Van Cauwenberghe and De Nieuwe Bazaar are new to Zomer van Antwerpen. In the cast of ‘Den Blok‘, the man who missed no one, you will recognize TV faces such as Danni Heylen, Inni Massez, Viv Van Dingenen, Hans De Munter and Tom Van Bauwel. 

“Our performance takes place on the football fields of Berchem Sport, with the apartments of Fruithoflaan in the background. According to statistics, five times as many decomposing bodies have been found in the metropolis in recent years. We want to reflect on the loneliness in the blocks. The performance is by no means hermetic or experimental. Everyone recognizes it and everyone can see their own in it”, Van Cauwenberghe says in the newspaper.

‘Tabula Rogeriana’

Jaouad Alloul also responds to that different audience with ‘Tabula Rogeriana‘, a different story, with a text by Aya Sabi. Alloul plays Al-Idrisi, a Moroccan Muslim and geographer who made the very first world map for the Catholic king of Sicily. 

“People sometimes complain that non-Western communities are difficult to be seduced by theater, but this story is like prayer in another culture. When we performed ‘Malcolm X‘ in OLT Rivierenhof, there was a more diverse audience there”, Alloul says.

Inflatable cathedral

The Operaplein will host a plastic cathedral by Architects of Air.

Young people ara awaited in the nearby St. Amandus Church with ‘Refrakto’, a happening of light and beats from Den Sorte Skole, or the deejays of the Roskilde Festival in Denmark.

‘Thaw’

‘Thaw‘ is scheduled for during the last weekend of the summer holidays. Above the Bonapartedok, high above the water, hangs an ice block that is slowly melting. Artists will dance for eight hours. We are bringing this special performance by the Australian ‘Legs On The Wall‘ here together with the British Greenwich & Docklands Festival. After Sydney and London, the performance will be shown for the first time on the European continent in Antwerp.

Practical

30th Summer of Antwerp, from 20 June to 1 September, various locations. Programme: www.zva.be. Ticket sales start on 8 June from 10 AM at http://www.zva.be or 03/224.85.39.

The brochure in English.

What is Summer of Antwerp?

Atmosphere and surprise are the starting point of the Zomer van Antwerpen programme, which is as varied as the city and its residents: music from the four corners of the world, the best from the (inter)national circus, strong visual theatre, dance in the most unthinkable places and numerous exceptional events and installations. Or large, special projects such as ‘The Elephant‘ or ‘The Giants‘ that will continue to resonate for years to come.

In addition, we facilitate an intense annual program that is deeply embedded in society and enter into numerous collaborations with cultural and non-cultural partners. We attach great importance to co-creation and are building a creative hub in the heart of Berchem, where makers and projects are central. We want to give everyone the opportunity to follow their own path and provide a springboard, without being suffocating.

“We pay special attention to young makers and the global majority. They flow like a common thread through the different layers of the operation. By ‘global majority’ we refer to the majority of the world’s population that is not white. And when we say ‘young’, we mean starting and emerging talent in the arts field. It is not self-evident to put an age on that”, the organisers say.

Unexpected locations

Working in non-obvious locations is one of our basic principles. Concert and theater halls make way for tents, hangars, vacant buildings and outdoor spaces. Working on location creates a ‘new reality’ for players and spectators. This gives some performances the depth they deserve.

Broad audience

The festival opens its doors wide to all ages and cultures. Through a wide range of art disciplines in various places in and around Antwerp, and democratic admission prices, we aim at both the great art lover and people who rarely set foot in a theater or concert hall. Children, young people and people with disabilities are also not forgotten. We pay extra attention to their arrival at the festival through a special route.

Hundreds of employees

In addition to foreign productions, performances are realized in co-production with local, cultural and social organizations. Their active involvement contributes to the broadening of the festival and to a strong anchorage in the neighborhoods. And of course no summer without volunteers. Hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers burst with energy every year to make the festival a success together.

An eye for the world

“We try to organize the festival and our annual operations as sustainably as possible. You notice this in the projects and in our printing, where the emphasis is on the use of environmentally friendly materials, but it also starts with our visitors, who we encourage to come by bicycle or public transport. Fair trade is also an important point of attention: a great festival is only possible in a fairer world.”