With more than 400 events planned, involving at least 500 artists, 2016 is an exciting time to visit San Sebastián. This is not just about having a single year with wall-to-wall activities however; the theme of the festival is Culture for Co-existence and the aim is to explore ways to improve how people live together in different communities in the long term.
San Sebastián is already firmly established as a leading foodie destination and also hosts renowned film, jazz and classical music festivals. The city council therefore decided to invest a large chunk of the Capital of Culture budget in the remodelling of existing infrastructure rather than going berserk with extravagant new architecture. It is all about people, experiences and hopefully leaving a lasting legacy of better ways of living everyday, rather than for the duration of the title. It all sounds rather refreshing, really.
One of the main hubs of the festival is the Tabakalera, a vast 19th-century cigarette factory in the Eguía neighbourhood, which is now the International Centre for Contemporary Culture. The venue is already having a positive influence on the area, with galleries and bars popping up in the surrounding streets.
To mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare, a Spanish production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be performed in the Cristina Enea park near the Tabakalera from 21 June to 24 July. Everyone in the audience will be invited to join in the lavish wedding feast that is part of the play – a treat indeed.
Suddenly Europe, which takes place on 11-16 July, looks very intriguing too. Billed as an international improvised singing gathering, the event involves impromptu performances on the streets of San Sebastián by people from all over Spain as well as countries as diverse as Brazil, Austria and Wales, culminating in a big and no doubt inspirational concert at the Kursaal auditorium.
One of the year’s major events is Peace Treaty, which runs through to December. This encompasses a range of activities and exhibitions that explore how the concepts of peace and violence are portrayed in art in different parts of Europe. The main strand of the project is 1516-2016: Peace Treaties, showing from 17 June until 2 October at the San Telmo Museum and the Koldo Mitxelena Kulturunea cultural centre. This involves seven shows highlighting historical events over the last five centuries, illustrated by artworks lent by 21 museums including the Prado and the Louvre with paintings by Goya, Picasso, Le Corbusier and Rubens.
Given the fact that restaurants in and around San Sebastián currently hold a total of 16 Michelin stars, the city is home to the innovative and influential Basque Culinary Center and it also hosts the prestigious Gastronomika conference, it is hardly surprising that gastronomy features prominently in the programme.
The On Appétit! project features 10 chefs from around Europe teaming up throughout the year with chefs from San Sebastián who will show them what the food scene in the region is all about. The guest chefs then use what they have learned to create new versions of traditional dishes from their own countries. The best bit is that visitors get to taste all these concoctions at cookery demonstrations and might even be inspired to have a go back at home.
You will have got the idea by now that San Sebastián is keen that its stint as European Capital of Culture should be about getting everyone actively involved rather than just looking on passively from the sidelines. Don’t worry - this doesn’t mean that you have to take up performance art or anything. But you might want to show your solidarity by strolling along the Mile of Peace, a route along the Urumea river where people can simply walk or take part in activities for adults and children on the themes of war, violence and peace.
The Mile of Peace nicely sums up what the year’s events are all about: simple actions that might just encourage people to make small changes to the way they live, which will in the end benefit everyone around them.
