Every year since 1981, the Kremnica Gags, Central-European festival of humor and satire takes place in the former mining town of Kremnica. It is attended by both domestic and foreign guests, whereby the number of foreign performers is still increasing. This year, the festival was held from 29th to 31 August. It is open for professionals as well as amateurs. Artists from ten European countries such as England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Bulgaria and Serbia took part in it, and about 300 Slovakian artists participated, too.
“We plan to enhance Kremnické gagy from a Central European festival of humor into a European festival,” said Pavol Kelley, the festival´s producer. But will it be possible to carry out this plan? The director of the festival, Ján Fakla, said they were starting realizing some limits, „especially in terms of finances, personnel and space.“
The best artistic performances in humor and satire were awarded in ten categories this year. Besides traditional theatre, music, puppet, and street performances, spectators could also watch various street improvisations and exhibits such as the Museum of Kitsch and the Alley of Famous Noses. As usual, about half ot the performances will be free of charge.
Amog the most interesting participants of this year belonged British mime Paul Clark, German puppet theater Zirkus Gockelini, and also Portuguese street clown Enano, who applied to participate in Kremnica Gags on his own. Two barbers from Barcelona performed their show called Osadia, in which they asked for volunteers from the audience and then made up amusing hairstyles. A mixture of music, dance and slapstick was performed by the Olga trio from Amsterdam and the Slovak band Funny Fellows. Various music bands played jazz on the main square.
The festival has also got the award for those performing bad taste and kitsch, it is an anti-prize called The Struck Goose. If you want to see really awful art, just visit the Kremnica Museum of Kitsch, where you can see for instance a stuffed fow wielding an axe and smoking a pipe.
Adding noses of famous personalities into the Alley of Famous Noses is another tradition of the Kremnica Gags festival. Last year, noses of Katarína Kolníková and Ján Melkovič were added. This year, another nose was ‘inducted’ into the Alley – the one of the famous actor and humorist František Dibarbora.
The festival has even got its president, Milan Markovič, who is also president of the Academy of Humour. He opened the festival together with the speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška. Markovič drove to the ceremony in a cheap Trabant mini-car dressed in racing coveralls, imitating Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič, who has appeared in similar silver coveralls in some public events.
"We have become used to the fact that at the end of August in Kremnica, fun wins," said Markovič. "Let us enable it to win even after August, after Gags. To win over stupidity, over all those modern depressions, and even over ourselves - if we deserve it." The president later raised a flag that resembled the presidential standard, but instead of the usual motto "Truth wins," there were written the words "Fun wins".
Slavka Kittova
The festival has also got the award for those performing bad taste and kitsch, it is an anti-prize called The Struck Goose. If you want to see really awful art, just visit the Kremnica Museum of Kitsch, where you can see for instance a stuffed fox wielding an axe and smoking a pipe.