We all just missed a fantastical global art and music happening (unless you were there of course).  If like me, you missed this year’s you’ll likely start planning for next year’s Bergenz Festival in Austria.

The Bregenz Opera “house” is an 8,050 square ft space built from steel and wood over Lake Constance. The festival is held in July and August, and every year the stage transforms into a different breathtaking sculpture. Art and opera appreciators from all over the world gather to be part of the fairy tale.

set for ‘Andrea Chénier’ on Lake Constance, image from The Telegraph

Participating performers may want to be in good shape. First to get to the stage they have to walk over a bridge that connects with the stage. Later they will perform on the stage while it floats and sways with the waters of Lake Constance.

Talented designers spend months just conceiving of the next year’s concept. A 5.5 million dollar budget for a stage set may sound extreme, but with an annual audience of 200,000 for a event that’s been happening since 1946, the expense and effort seem well worth it.

Tosca, 2007

A Masked Ball, 1999

The Bregenz Festival in Austria is not the only festival that creates unforgettable, temporal art experiences that may give you goose bumps. In Belgium, the 3-day electric festival “Tomorrowland” presents 250 DJ’s for audiences of 180,000 from around the world. The festival has more than one stage and walking from one installation to another is like being in a dream. At this experiential festival, artists are wearing costumes, lights are coloring the sky, and the music is all you hear.

The extreme work that goes into those projects takes months while the enjoyment lasts only days. While the installations are temporary attendees are left forever changed.

-Yekaterina Sahakyan