It's been a long time since I visited a festival of any kind, but fortunately, a few have come together recently. I mentioned in one of my posts that I would like to visit this one, ARTenBITRIR. Later, we had a medieval market that I really liked, and today there is an event, the April Fair, which I will try to visit in the afternoon. For now, I will focus on street art, specifically the four-day event that is held year after year.
This was its 12th edition, held in Petrer from 27 to 30 March. Upon checking the website, I discovered that the idea came about in late 2011, but the organisers weren't sure it would actually happen. And it seems that since 2012, when the first gathering of street artists took place, this festival has become something magical, an event that brings together many people from various places and municipalities. The number of people we saw at ARTenBITRIR was surprising; I didn't expect to see so many people with small children visiting this festival. Well, this was my first year visiting it, and I was only able to do so for one day (the afternoon of 29 March) because I was busy with work the other days while the event lasted.
So, what can you expect to see if you decide to come to this event?
To summarise, in one word: art. 😁
Of course, it is a festival of street art, but there were also concerts, workshops, theatre shows and a street market. Here you can check the whole program of this year, as well as a promotional video. The dynamics of the event can be appreciated better by seeing it, since I spent too little time on the streets to see everything.
The first thing that we saw when we arrived at this square was the painting activity held by various artists. Apart from the art happening in real time, we also saw already finished ones, hanging from the walls and the fence. Clearly, as we saw from different paintings, the same phrase - Haz el arte y no la guerra (Make art, not war) we concluded that it was the official topic of this edition.
This whole square was reserved for the painting activity, and from here we went up to the next street. As it is at a higher level, you have to use the staircase, and here I noticed this face-piano. Or piano-face? In any case, I loved it!! what a surprise hahaha
Oh, painted rocks!! <3
We saw them in the official stand of the event, where there were flyers with the schedule of the events.
The event took place in several streets of the old centre of Petrer. At the same time, you could find different activities in them. When there was a street concert or a show (we caught one show for children by a clown), the streets were fully packed with the crowd. We tried to find the empty ones, but even then, you could know that something is happening in the town. There were signs of artistic activities everywhere.
I know who will love this dove...
And I know who will love this owl... :)
Shoes everywhere - what would the admin of the Hive Collectors community say seeing so many shoes? 😂 And the topic for the next month will be... I can't tell you, haha.
One of the few concerts we passed by during our visit to ARTenBITRIR. They were held in different streets, mainly guitarists, singers, one rock (or metal, I am not sure) group, one brass band, etc.
This was another concert, but later, this man was talking on the microphone and led all the people to another event. We didn't join them but went on our own rhythm.
We wanted to check the street market once again, but this time with fewer people around so I could take some photos. Many artisanal items, crochet dolls, bags, clothes, jewellery, key chains, lamps, clothing items and more.
Someone will like the eyes... 👁
... and the horse too. :D
The stalls with the crochet dolls were lovely! I spotted some elephants, among them this one:
As well as elephant keychains!
I'm not sure what material these cool hats and glasses were made of, although they looked like they had just come out of a movie.
One mushroom for a late #FungiFriday and a kitty for #Caturday. 😊
Should we start saving money in some of these colourful piggy banks?
As the last photo, I bring this stall with wooden pendants with quotes. Actually, they are keychains, and all of them are handmade. Disfruta del camino (enjoy the journey) is one of the many I liked. Which one would be your favourite?
My first visit to the ARTenBITRIR festival happened as a visitor. Every year, they offer the possibility to participate as a volunteer, artist or musician. Who knows, maybe some of the Hive artists would gladly join this street festival in the next editions?
