31.07.2026 – 08.08.2026
For almost three decades, La Strada, the International Festival of Street Art, Puppetry, Contemporary Circus and Community Art, has been transforming Graz into a summer stage.
Working closely with the local community, it explores the city alongside a diverse range of artists, turns perspectives on their head, uncovers hidden places and turns urban spaces into a grand stage.
As every year, the festival kicks off with the grand opening on the stage of the Graz Opera House. There, the 19-member French Collectif XY presents ‘Möbius’, a bold fusion of acrobatics, dance and poetry that blurs the boundaries between the arts. They draw inspiration from natural phenomena such as the wonderfully gliding movement patterns of birds and fish in their shoals. An ode to the resilience of individuals within their community.
Circus Ronaldo, a name well known in Graz, invites audiences into the big top with its new production, “Da Capo”. Through a production that blends traditional and contemporary elements, the Commedia dell’arte of days gone by is, at times, brought back to life.
At the Next Liberty Theatre, Frédérique C. Lessard presents a theatre monologue – accompanied by striking acrobatics on the aerial hoop – that brings a work as moving as it is complex to the stage, reflecting on what it means to be different and to find oneself. A pioneering work of ‘documentary circus’.
A very special performance awaits us with “A MOMENT’S NOTICE” by Alex Deutinger & Alexander Gottfarb at the Graz Botanical Gardens. In this co-production with La Strada, strange creatures become mirrors of their surroundings, but also of those they encounter.
This year, more than ever, La Strada invites active participation. In workshops, city dwellers become co-creators of the artistic process. In the first phase of the project, you can help develop “Graz on the Move” with Johannes Bellinkx & Benjamin Vandewalle – a choreography for and with public space. Dutch artist Nick Steur focuses on mindfulness and responsibility towards others in his participatory performance “Care to Carry”. Zwermers, in collaboration with Caritas Styria and local participants, are developing the project “Worn out?”, a textile portrait of the city. At Freiheitsplatz, the audience becomes part of the performance when they can make music together with the Compagnie du Coin.
And the community art project ‘Signal vom Dachstein’, which launched in 2021 around the glacier, is also making its way to Graz this year and will be on display as part of an audiovisual installation at Atelier Jungwirth.
LA STRADA
various locations, Graz / Styria
31.07.2026 – 08.08.2026
www.lastrada.at
