Can't believe it's been two months already since I made this snap and yet the same amount of time since FITS 2025 took place. But along with time flying, so do the memories created resist the passage of time.
Sadly, the memories created during this year's edition of FITS are a lot less than planned. Actually, I postponed creating this post because I created fake expectations for both myself and those who enjoy reading my posts, but I think we all know that things don’t always go as planned.
Actually, a few things in life still keep me entertained, looking forward to the next year, and FITS is one of them, which, even during the festival, I am already looking forward to seeing the next edition, since no shows or festivals are ever the same. But just one day after the festival started, some health issues popped up that kept me in my bed for the next 5-6 days. I was lucky to get to attend the first day of the festival in the company of my sister and her boyfriend, but the next few days were a lot different. And even if I could still attend the festival 2 or 3 more days, since FITS lasts for 10 days in a row, there were other issues coming out, mostly work-related, which ruined my mood and everything, already feeling like it was too late to join the party anymore.
However, as I managed to attend the first day of FITS, I thought I'd still drop the shows I've seen, and remind everyone what FITS is, because despire being the 3rd World's largest festival of it's kind, there are people who still believe this is all about theatre because of its official name (Sibiu's International Theatre Festival).
In short, FITS is not just a theatre festival although it has a few hundreds of these going on during its time, but these are taking part in the official cultural centers and theatres while the actual shows that make this festival a lot more popular are what happens outdoors, namely, on the streets of Sibiu where all shows are free to attend also.
From different styles of dancing to traditional music of more countries, from circus to professional teams of acrobatics from all over the globe, from unique installations to some of the best international shows of more arts-related categories, FITS is one of the best festivals one can attend at least once in their life. And don't you worry, once you attend it once, you will surely want to return for the next editions because, as I mentioned before, no shows are repeated twice due to the yearly themed editions which gather different shows every time.
Live the moment! (Spain)
The very first show of this year's edition of FITS was created by a Spanish lady whose stage name is La Churry, which got quite a few people from the audience involved in its spectacle.
The genre of the show was mainly comedy, but behind each joke and humour, there were hidden messages, especially dedicated to women and how strong they should stay, no matter how many challenges they face in life. Sadly, not everyone got the meaning of the show and some of the audience criticized the show thinking that it's a bit exagered, but being there with almost one hour before the show started, and getting to observe the lady how she is outside the stage, made me realize how many efforts she does to entertain and encourage the audience, so she got my respect for that.
Duration: 45 min
Premiere date: 17.07.2022
Original name: Wooooow!
The Gentlemen! (Czech Republic)
Next up, we had a different kind of show, with a Czech team of four pretty gentlemen, that mainly focused on acrobatics of various styles.
There was one man mainly doing acrobatics and pole dancing, two of them focusing on gymnastics and beam jumps, and last but not least, acrobatics with chairs, being arranged in the most impossible ways and still having enough balance to hold a human body.
However, even if they all seem so different from each other, the whole story was drawn around a group of friends where each of them tries to impress people, facing failures but also successes, while learning to move on, also taking note of those who are remaining by their side. Basically, what life is in general, but represented in a more artistic way. And I absolutely loved every minute of this show.
Duration: 40 min
Premiere date: 03.06.2022
Original name: The Gentlemen
The Dream of Ymir (Italy)
Last but not least, a thing that we know for sure will happen is that once the night settles, some of the most impressive and biggest shows take part in Piata Mare, all shows being in the air and possible to be admired by anyone passing by without the fear of not finding an empty seat anymore.
This time, the opening show of this kind came with spectacular acrobatics, lots of flying for the people who spent almost an hour in the air, but also various lights that captured the whole attention. The figure from the middle is entitled Ymir and the whole show takes part on live music played by a local artist, while the rest of the moment is based on five acts, one that resembles falling asleep, one with fragmented realities, one for the distorted desires, one for not being able to wake up, and one for the eternal night where the border between a dream and reality is being dissolved.
I have previous experience attending similar shows, but this one especially felt magical, and it was a great way to end the night before heading home.
Duration: 45 min
Premiere date: 17.11.2023
Original name: The Dream of Ymiri
Sadly, this is everything I got to see from this year's edition of FITS after spending an entire day creating a schedule to attend no less than 70 shows on the streets of Sibiu, but I cannot wait to see what 2026 will bring. Until then, down below you can see previous editions of FITS from the other years I attended the festival.
FITS 2025 posts:
FITS 2023 posts:
- FITS 2023 - Part 1
- FITS 2023 - Part 2
- FITS 2023 - Part 3
- FITS 2023 - Part 4
- FITS 2023 - Part 5
- FITS 2023 - Part 6
FITS 2022 posts:
- FITS 2022 - Part 1
- FITS 2022 - Part 2
- FITS 2022 - Part 3
- FITS 2022 - Part 4
- FITS 2022 - Part 5
- FITS 2022 - Part 6
Gabriela Travels is the FOUNDER of "Festival Mania" who started this community from the passion of attending various festivals and with the purpose of encouraging more people to explore festivals all around the world and share their experiences.
At the same time, Gabriela is an independent Graphic Design Freelancer since 2019 completing over 600+ orders in this time and collaborating with various businesses and people from all over the globe.
Additionally, Gabriela has her own corner on the internet since 2017 where she writes various articles for her blog, the most popular being the travel ones (300+ articles written on this field), but also approaching other topics as well, like game reviews, lets plays, movie and series reviews, photography posts, cooking recipes and more, boosting the total number of articles written to 750+ blog posts.
Gabriela is also a gamer since she was 11 years old and gaming remains one of her biggest passions along with traveling, owning a YouTube channel for each of the two.
~ @GabrielaTravels ~