Santander will transform into an open-air stage from 27 to 29 November for the 16th edition of the International Magic and Visual Arts Festival. This event will bring together prominent national and international artists and offer a diverse programme of performances suitable for all audiences, with a particular focus on street magic.
The announcement was made by the city's culture councillor, Noemí Méndez, and the festival director, local illusionist Raúl Alegría, during a presentation of this year's festival. The event will feature award-winning artists who have received six national awards, two Magic Oscars, and two European championships.
Méndez highlighted the festival's established role within Santander's cultural calendar and its commitment to bringing performing and visual arts closer to the public through free shows that will fill some of the city's most iconic spaces with magic, humour, and wonder. “We want magic to meet the citizens again, turning the streets and squares of Santander into spaces for culture, coexistence, and fun. This festival allows us to present high-quality artistic proposals to all audiences and enjoy a vibrant, open, and active city,” she stated.
During the three-day event, the squares of the Ayuntamiento (City Hall), Porticada, Alfonso XIII, and Atarazanas will be transformed into makeshift stages where the public can enjoy performances combining illusionism, humour, clowning, circus, and object theatre. In the event of rain, performances will be moved to the gazebo in Jardines de Pereda.
The street programme will include ten free performances on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November, featuring five different artistic proposals, allowing spectators to explore various locations in central Santander while enjoying magic throughout both days. Participants include Mino and Arthur from Logroño, who will present a comedic magic act; Boto Botones and Mandy Mandona from Madrid, who will blend magic, humour, and object theatre; and Argentine performers Carlos Adriano, winner of the Street Magic World Championship in Italy, and Gonza Martini, who will combine magic, circus, and visual spectacle. Jon Ander, recognised with the National Street Magic Award at the National Magic Congress held in Santander last June, will also perform a close-up and participatory illusionism show.
The festival will kick off on Friday 27 November at 21:00 in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento with the traditional inaugural challenge by Raúl Alegría. This year, instead of the previous editions' escape acts, he promises a grand illusion involving the appearance of a helicopter in the heart of Santander. Titled ‘The challenge: Helicopter appearance’, the illusionist, a two-time Spanish Magic Champion and recipient of the Merlin Award—considered the “Oscar of magic”—and the European FISM Award for Grand Illusions, has designed a show intended to surprise the audience and launch three days of activities.
Alegría explained that this year's proposal marks a departure from previous inaugurations, which featured escape acts as the main attraction. “We have been running this festival for 21 years. The first five years were just a gala called Magic 5 Stars, and then we expanded to include street programming and adopted the current festival name. Over the years, we have created 16 original escape acts for the opening challenge, and this year we want to turn the proposal on its head with this incredible feat,” he said.
The festival director assured that the helicopter appearance would be one of the major surprises of this edition. “We are starting with a very special challenge in the centre of Santander. Nothing like this has ever been seen before. The appearance of a helicopter will be a grand illusion that we hope will astonish the city and demonstrate that, at this festival, the impossible can become reality,” he affirmed.
The programme will also include two major international galas titled ‘Stars of World Magic’, taking place in the Sala Argenta of the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria on Saturday 28 November at 19:30 and Sunday 29 November at 18:00. These performances will feature prominent international artists representing various contemporary illusionism disciplines, combining grand illusions, mentalism, humour, theatricality, and visual effects. Participants will include Charlie the Magician, who fuses magic with flamenco; Nikolai Striebel, known for creating impossible images and visually stunning effects; Adrián Carratalá and Katerina, who blend illusionism with theatricality; and Anca and Lucca, internationally recognised for their mentalism shows and winners of the Magic Oscar in Paris.
Alegría emphasised the variety and quality of the artists participating in this edition and particularly highlighted the aim to restore the approachable and popular nature of illusionism. Finally, Méndez reiterated the city's invitation to enjoy this new edition of the festival, which will once again combine large-scale international shows with free programming in public spaces, contributing to the cultural offering and atmosphere of the city during the last weekend of November.
