Outdoor festival thrives as it entertains visitors

Li Chuang was doing acrobatics with two long sticks in a vacant space at Shine Hills, a commercial zone in Shunyi district in northeast Beijing. With subtle movements the sticks danced on and off Li's body under his skillful control, enough to seem like they had a life of their own. His performance received bursts of applause from the audience, many of whom came to visit the street art festival, held from late September to Oct 11.

The 33-year-old from Beijing has performed in the annual event since it started in 2018. This year, he was among the more than 100 street artists who shared the fun and laughter with tourists.

He worked with a team of about eight artists and offered a crystal ball magic show and stunts integrating music and lighting. The atmosphere was electric and the audience showed their appreciation.

There were also public art exhibitions, street variety shows and folk music performed at the event by battalions of clowns, acrobats and singers, says Li Hui, a senior marketing officer of the zone. The visitors had free access to every performance and seemed to have enjoyed the various artistic expressions.

Li Chuang says: "Many of our performances were designed to shorten the distance between the artists and audience, and shows have become increasingly interactive."

He got into street art in 2012 when he was studying in the United Kingdom. "I found it interesting and came to know many artists at big circus festivals," he says.

"Many overseas outdoor events that those domestic artists might have participated in have been canceled this year," says Li Hui, who adds that foreign street artists who attended the event before, sent videos of their latest performances this year. "We aired their performances during the festival and they attracted the attention of many visitors."

The festival drew 700,000 visitors during the National Day holiday earlier this month, a slight increase over the holiday last year, according to the official statistics.

The outdoor event aims to create a vacation destination where visitors don't have to buy things but can just enjoy a relaxed time.

Due to people's passion for street art, related workshops will be launched at the festival in the future, to further release the potential of domestic street art culture, according to Li Hui.

The street artist Li Chuang says he will continue to participate in the festival.

To date, he has offered simple acrobatics performances and taught such skills at a few parks in Beijing. "We want to encourage more young people to engage in public spaces," he says, adding that the ultimate goal is to build a dynamic and fun community.