If the dictionary of the Real Academia de la Lengua Española defines the word FERIA as a “market of greater importance than the common”, we, the members of the Coordinator of Performing Arts Fairs in Spain, like to point out that it is also a “market where one finds business and the buying and selling of art”.
 
More than two decades ago, with the arrival of democracy, most Spanish towns and cities recovered their most traditional festivals and celebrations, and the natural scenarios for these: streets and squares were used, many theatres were reopened and refurbished. Leisure and culture became a service, a common good, new markets opened and there was a push to democratise culture.

  This rebirth stimulated a greater demand for new and varied products. Given this growing demand, the offer increased; some had the need to show their work –what we nowadays call product–, others wanted new information, new ideas –today we call them programmers–, and at this historic moment, with more intuition than experience, the first Theatre Fair in Spain was born: it was 1981.

From then on, other appeared all over the country, either through necessity or imitation, other “fairs”, places for meeting, discussion and exchange; living spaces that harbour hopes, dreams and passions, markets that trade in the ephemerous, that searches for and –we believe– have managed to create, influence and take root among the performing arts industries.

After a first stage that, as we have mentioned, was purely intuitive, nowadays, all year round, the professionals in the sector can meet regularly at 14 fairs to talk, debate, reflect and, especially, get to know new productions. And there is a true fact: there are ever more professionals who go round the different fairs to buy or sell new products, thus also getting to know in person the rich and varied offer of artistic creations.

Each of these fairs has its own stamp and identity. We can find specialised fairs together with other more generic ones; fairs that work in different spaces or formats; others that focus the spectacles towards a specific professional sector; some more international, other with a more regional programme... But all with a common, intrinsic objective, to connect to the professionals, thus facilitating commercial exchange.

In view of the historical singularity of these initiatives in the international panorama, after some years of consideration and studying the need for coordination and the possibilities for exchanging experiences, the fairs in Spain, with the encouragement and backing of the INAEM –Ministry of Culture-, have come together in the Coordinator of Performing Arts Fairs.

With the collaboration of:
 

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