FEATS is an English-language theatre festival first held in The Hague (NL) in 1976. It is open to amateur groups throughout mainland Europe and is held over the long Whitsun (Pentecost) or Ascension weekends.

Over 4 consecutive evenings, a total of 12 plays are performed, 3 plays per evening. Each play lasts between 20 and 55 minutes.

FEATS is a peripatetic festival, taking place in a different location each year. It is organised by a host group which is responsible for the organisation, the running and the financing of the festival.

FEATS has a Steering Committee which ensures the continuity of the festival and selects the host groups and participating teams. The Steering Committee also sets the general rules.

FEATS audiences are mostly comprised of regular attendees from English-speaking groups on mainland Europe who often attend the whole festival (or at least 2 to 3 days). They are generally well-informed theatregoers who salute high-standard work.

FEATS also has an off-festival programme, the Fringe, that takes place over 3 afternoons.

For more information about FEATS, see link to feats.eu below.

The Organising Committee is appointed by the host group and is responsible for the organisation and financing of the entire festival, including securing a venue with full complement of theatrical equipment, coordinating with the participating groups, ensuring the smooth running of the festival and the Fringe, appointing a professional evaluator (or adjudicator in years there is a competition), and generally making sure no-one is unhappy. (At least they try to do the latter.)

The Organising Committee comprises a main committee who oversee the whole festival, and various subcommittees who look after particular aspects. Then there are the helpers during the festival who are on hand to run the wheels. All in all, some 100 volunteers are involved.

to be completed

to be completed

05.08.2021   Floodwaters in Mersch
The Kulturhaus in Mersch, the venue for FEATS22, was badly affected by the recent flooding that occurred across western Germany, Luxembourg and eastern Belgium. Although the auditorium itself was untouched, the lower technical and storage level was 1,40 m underwater and covered with a film of hydraulic oil from the submerged service lift. The power and control switchboards are out of action and have to be replaced, as well as about 75% of the lighting fixtures. Almost all of the material stored at this level has had to be thrown out, including seating, podiums, etc.

The Director of the Kulturhaus, Claude Mangen, hopes to have the theatre up and running by October or November, which at this stage is perhaps a little optimistic. One consequence for us is that we are unable to definitively fix the size of the thrust stage and side seating blocks as the main seating block is in the retrenched position and unable to be moved. We are therefore working with assumed dimensions which will not be able to be confirmed until power is restored to the auditorium level.

Another consequence is that the Technical Data Pack is unable to be completed until the new equipment is delivered. This should, however, be well in time for the participating groups to plan their production. So, although set back, all is not lost.

08.08.2021   Fringe Benefits
At a recent meeting with the Kulturhaus Director, Claude Mangen, he suggested that we hook up with the National Literature Centre which is based in Mersch. The NLC (or CNL in French), which also promotes English-language works, has a large conference room and a delightful garden with good outdoor spaces. Perhaps an afternoon of work related to literature could be held here. All ideas welcome!

St Michael’s Tower with its distinctive bulb-shaped dome, which stands to the side of the Place St Michel, the old Roman centre of Mersch, has been supplanted as the symbol of the town by an adjacent bronze statue. Erected in 1997, the dragon symbolises the three valleys, each with its river, which meet in the city park below, and the seven castles that watch over these water courses. Yet the dragon also looks forward, ready to blaze its way into the future, lifting Mersch to newer and brighter levels.

Whoever believes that dragons belong to a mythical past need venture no further than Mersch in May 2022 to discover that myth, mythology, storytelling and dream spinning are all dramatically present in the Kulturhaus cauldron. Who will be first to lift the lid?

Sesugh Annger, a Nigerian designer based in Doha, Qatar, has developed the FEATS22 logo with imagination and flair.