Theaterfestival Boulevard looks back on a valuable, sun-drenched 42nd edition. This year the eleven-day festival attracted 111,000 visitors, of whom 58,000 attended performances (39,000 tickets sold and 19,000 visitors to the free programme). Accessibility once again took a leap forward this year.

In a Community of Wonder ("In Gemeenschap van Verwondering")

Boulevard is a temporary community in which everyone has a unique place: the builder who has already spent a week hauling hundreds of pipes, the cleaner who prepares the square every morning for a new festival day, the actress warming up her voice in the alley around the corner just before the first show, the Boulevard team member curiously wandering around to see how the audience reacts, one of the 270 volunteers starting her first shift this year full of anticipation, and the visitor watching a performance with his child on his shoulders.

Crowd-pullers

Boulevard 2026 offered around 100 different performances, concerts and installations at the intersection of theatre, dance, circus, spoken word, music and visual art, including 20 premieres. This year's big crowd-pullers included the internationally renowned Lost Dog's Ruination, Badke(remix) by Amir Sabra & Ata Khatab – laGeste | Stereo48, The Harvest of Broken Promises (Pankaj Tiwari / CAMPO), Klei by Schweigman& in collaboration with Zoro Feigl and HIIIT, and the performance Romeo & Julia by Het Scheldenoffensief & Comp. Marius. The tents on the festival square sold out, and there was great anticipation for the second half of the week for the student programme Future Feels/Club Felix. Young and old alike found their way to Tent Paars, the place for street culture.

Accessibility

Theatre festival Boulevard has been working for years toward a festival where as many people as possible feel welcome, seen and represented. This year included 14 programme items in Dutch Sign Language (NGT) or with NGT interpreters, three sensory-friendly receptions, three performances with audio description for blind visitors, tactile interpreters for deafblind visitors, Meet & Feel sessions, and a braille map. The collaboration with the deaf community was deepened further: deaf people were involved in performances, contextual programming and the festival team, which this year welcomed a deaf accessibility colleague. The Sign Language Café at the Hertog Jan La Tramontana bar drew more than 300 visitors with performances and a talk show in NGT.

Financial accessibility also remained a guiding principle, with free programme items for newcomers, among others, and more than 500 "Give a Ticket" vouchers. This commitment extends beyond the festival itself. Through initiatives such as Lijn73, makers, residents and partners work year-round on projects based on sustainable relationships and shared ownership — this year with Stormkamer/Hanna van Mourik Broekman, Guilherme Miotto/Corpo Máquina Society and King Sisters.

Mental Emergency Kit ("Geestelijk Noodpakket")

Under the title "Mental Emergency Kit," the programming team developed a contextual programme this year consisting of, among other things, work sessions, post-show talks and an in-depth talk show. In collaboration with Mezrab, for example, a storytelling workshop was given by Sahand Sahebdivani around the question: "When was a moment you thought: I have to do something right now?" The stories that emerged from this were later shared during the festival's talk show.

Festival heart and tattoos

The festival square was optimised with clear signage to help and inspire visitors in making choices. At the "I JOIN IN" square, there was a steady stream of young visitors up to age 10 from morning to evening, decorating capes, building castles out of boxes and following scavenger-hunt routes around the square — a great success. What no one could resist this year: the Boulevard temporary tattoo. The colourful faces from Rogier Roeters' campaign image spread like wildfire across the site and soon adorned the arms of visitors young and old.

Thanks and 2027

Boulevard thanks its visitors and everyone involved in this 42nd edition. Even during the scorching heat, many people still found their way to the performances and the square. Next year's 43rd edition is scheduled for Thursday 5 through Sunday 15 August 2027.