Northern Theatre Harag György Company

Following the highly successful 10th anniversary of the Interethnic Theatre Festival, Satu Mare is once again the host city of IFEST, which took place from 14 to 24 November with the main support of the Office for Interethnic Relations and with the help of the festival's other partners: the Harag György Company, the Satu Mare Mayor's Office, the Satu Mare County Council, the UDMR, the Yard and Aquastar
The festival, which is very popular among the people of Satu Mare, was always sold out: some performances sold out days in advance, others were sold out on the day of the performance - and the high interest was typical for all venues: from the main hall of the Northern Theatre Satu Mare to the Alajos Ács Studio or the puppet theatre hall of the Industrial Home, and the main hall of the Trade Union Cultural Centre.

The festival programme was also very varied and strong: award-winning productions, staged by renowned theatre artists such as Bodó Viktor, Andrei Șerban, Yuri Kordonsky, Zsótér Sándor, Vidnyánszky Attila Jr, Sebestyén Aba, and many more, followed each other, presenting a comprehensive cross-section of the Romanian theatre scene, Hungarian, German, Jewish and Roma minorities in Romania, and the stage was also graced by stars of contemporary Romanian theatre, such as Maia Morgenstern, who appeared on stage in two performances for the Satu Mare audience. The programme of the theatre festival was enriched daily with accompanying events: book launches, professional talks and after-parties.

According to the organisers' calculations, nearly 5 000 spectators attended the 11th Interethnic Theatre Festival, which was well above the number of spectators of two years ago.

And Satu Mare - according to the feedback - proved to be a good host again. This is confirmed by the feedback from the nearly 600 artists and theatre workers who visited Satu Mare during the festival, as well as from critics who praised not only the successful organisation but also the spectacular development of cultural life in Satu Mare during the professional round tables, informal discussions and written feedback afterwards.

As several people pointed out during the festival, Satu Mare is an excellent venue for the festival, as all the minority theatres that come here have a minority audience in the city and the county: besides the Hungarian and Romanian communities, there are also significant German, Jewish and Roma minorities in the city and the region.

Building on the success of the festival, which has been held in Satu Mare for the third time in the last decade, the organisers hope to have the opportunity to welcome the national minority theatres to this prestigious event, which is always received with great interest and growing enthusiasm by the city's multi-ethnic audience.