Bogota celebrated Thursday the official launch of its Ibero-American Theater Festival, the world’s largest theater showcase, with a preview of epic theater and dance performances planned for the festival’s grand opening in March 2012.
Bogota’s 13th annual theater festival has been recognized by UNESCO as an event of Intangible Cultural Heritage and this year has invited 45 countries to participate in over 800 functions and 70 special events spread across 22 Bogota theaters over 17 days.
The new image of the festival this year is “The Festival of 1000 Faces,” designed by Carlos Duque, in celebration of the diverse participation and entertainment the event will draw in from March 23 through April 8, 2012.
“The festival offers the most complete panorama of performing arts. Aside from classical works, it is a showcase of dance, circus, music, puppetry, pantomime, performance art, and even concerts, many of which take place simultaneously in Bogota’s halls and streets,” according to the website of Colombian tourism and investment promoter Proexport.
The festival is undeniably the biggest and most important festival in Colombia, and at the launch a message from Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos was read by actor Diego Leon Hoyos that told citizens that the festival “should go on to become the pride of all Colombians.”