In the 20th edition of Imaginarius - International Street Theater Festival, which takes place from 27 to 30 May, involves 171 artists (from Brazil, Spain, France, Mexico and Portugal), 14 companies and 14 projects in Santa Maria da Feira, in the district of Aveiro.

Recovering the 'Myth' theme - scheduled for the 2020 edition, which, due to the covid-19 pandemic, has not taken place - and adding it to the new 'Brand' theme, this year's edition ends the trilogy started in 2019 , dedicated to the theme of 'Memory'.

The festival's programme includes shows from the previous edition, as well as projects resulting from the five public tenders launched by the municipality, to which 109 projects applied, of which 11 were selected.

Completely free and with open access, the digital presentations can be accompanied by the interactive map available on the festival's website, which will cover several emblematic sites along the 213 square kilometers of Santa Maria da Feira.

On Thursday, the festival kicks off with two creations: “Despojos da Torre de Babel”, by Alexandra Couto and Paulo Pimenta, and “O Cubo”, by Elisabete Sousa and Diogo Martins. Visits to the two creations, which can be seen in person until Sunday at Quinta do Castelo, take place from 3pm on Thursday. At the same time, the show “Ulysses” takes to the stage ‘online’, which tells the mythical journey back to Ulysses after the Trojan War is over and will be broadcast digitally at the Municipal Library until Sunday. The first day of Imaginarius also counts, at 5pm, with the exhibition of the ‘making of’ by GodMess, the mural painting that relates the work and involvement of the Fair Volunteer Firefighters corporation with the territory.

The Mayor of Santa Maria da Feira underlined that this is “a prudent return” of the festival. "The pandemic does not allow us to stage the festival in full (...) but we are complying with resilience", said Emídio Sousa, adding that Imaginarius is "increasingly transforming the Fair".

The investment in the festival, which in this first moment acquires a hybrid format, but which returns from 9 to 12 September to its usual stage - the streets of the municipality - is €291,000.