Review Open Market Days - 20-22.2.2020

500 guests at the “Open Market Days”

The official kick-off of Esch2022 has been announced

From 20 to 22 February 2020, representatives of the media, the municipalities, the cultural scene, the political arena, as well as project sponsors, partners and citizens were given a multimedia preview of the Esch2022 Capital of Culture project. Her Royal Highness Grand Duchess also responded to the invitation of the management and visited the Muart-Hal last Saturday. Today she agreed to become the patron of the event.

For most of the about 500 visitors who attended last week, the event was a novel experience that gave them a preview of what will happen in 2022 on the territory of the European Capital of Culture in Luxembourg and France. This will lay the foundations for an image change for the entire region. The former Muart-Hal was transformed into a multimedia information trail. Belgian food retailer Delhaize made it possible to hold the event in this exceptional location by providing the premises free of charge before one of its new supermarkets is built here. Our thanks also go to all partners involved.

Four stations, a wealth of information

The visitors were given special headphones and first walked through a tunnel that offered them an innovative, multidirectional listening experience using “immersive sound” technology, which literally immersed them in the room and the Remix theme. In combination with professional lighting design, this spatial rather than channel-based approach, which is not tied to specific loudspeakers, helps visitors process information. The “identité sonore” (acoustic identity) of Esch2022, which was played in a number of places, was written by the composer David Ianni.

The second station offered insights into the four selected projects along the four thematic pillars of Esch2022, which were presented in the form of video statements by the project sponsors or project managers of Esch2022.

In the one-hour session, the four speakers - Nancy Braun, Director General of Esch2022, Sylvain Mengel, Cultural Coordinator for French Communities (CCPHVA), Françoise Poos, Programme Director of Esch2022 and Thierry Kruchten, Tourism and Mobility Manager - introduced their particular areas of expertise and outlined objectives, current situation and milestones for 2020 and beyond.

At the end of the multimedia information trail, virtual reality technology was used to provide a preview of the grand opening ceremony on 22 February 2022. The closing ceremony on 22 December 2022 will then be held on the theme of “Re-Start”. This is because the objective is clearly not to organise a festival year, but to initiate a change together with the people in the region so that it can fully flourish and express itself over the years to come.

Haut Patronage of the Grand Duchess

Among the guests on Saturday was Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess. Following all the positive impressions of her visit, the Grand Duchess, who attaches great importance to culture, has agreed to act as patron of Esch2022. She explained her decision on the grounds that, beyond its cultural interest, the Capital of Culture project represents modern, European Luxembourg.

Next milestones

Starting in March, the theme of Sponsorship will be at the top of the agenda of those responsible for the project. To assist the project sponsors beyond the financial support of a maximum of 50% from Esch2022, the team will work with the strategic communications consultancy Binsfeld and the Ernst & Young corporate network to develop a concept for the possible financing of the submitted projects and implement it as quickly as possible. Using the matchmaking principle, the aim is to connect creative people with companies that could become suitable investors. In pitch presentations, as is customary for contractors in the private sector, the project sponsors will also be given the opportunity to present themselves to potential sponsors and win them over to their idea. In this way, Esch2022 will help to create a win-win situation for all sides.

Starting in April, media representatives will be informed about relevant topics and invited to a general discussion on the last Thursday of each month at a press breakfast that will take place at different locations in the Esch2022 region. The first meeting will take place on 30 April 2020. At these meetings, we will provide more detail on our own analyses and surveys or those commissioned by Esch2022, and we will present measures to ensure the success of citizen participation. One of the partners that Esch2022 works closely with here is the consulting firm Impact Lab, which specialises in collaborative innovation and impact measurement. In addition, information will be provided on the current status of the aforementioned issues of sponsoring and financing. A special invitation with further information will be sent separately.

All the press material including photos and videos can be downloaded from www.esch2022.lu/presse.