BANG! Big Bang City Festival

BANG! Big Bang city festival

In the autumn of 2021, the city festival BANG! unleashed a major cultural Big Bang in Leuven. The connecting thread was man's wonderment about the cosmos and its origins. And that is not a coincidence. The Big Bang theory was written in Leuven. Professor Georges Lemaître launched this revolutionary theory about the Big Bang in 1931 at the University of Leuven. And it shook the foundations of science!

In cooperation with more than 100 partners BANG! showed how the big bang has inspired art and science until today.

BANG! LAUNCH

The opening weekend on the Park Abbey site provided a festive start of the festival. The highlight was a cosmic light trail with video mapping, light installations and soundscapes. The 'Biggest Bang' was another highlight: more than 200 percussionists from Leuven played the stars from the sky with their impressive drum act on the Neerhof. The polyphonic concerts, children's animations and planetariums were also a hit.

FOUR MAJOR EXHIBITIONS

Does the universe have a beginning? Will it ever come to an end? Where do humans fit into the bigger picture? For thousands of years, we have projected these fundamental questions onto the starry sky and turned to mythology, religion, art and science to help us unravel the mysteries of our origins and distant future. The four central exhibitions of BANG! offered a multitude of perspectives on this imaginative theme.

PLANETARIUM MUSIC FESTIVAL

In collaboration with arts centre STUK, the 'dome' of the German company Airstructures landed on the Leuven Martelarenplein. In this dome tent with 360° projection and surround sound, 32 audiovisual shows took place during 11 days. The music festival provided an unforgettable cosmic experience.

BANG! FRINGE

A new feature of the festival was BANG! FRINGE. An offbeat exhibition and performance trail that focused on young creators and experimentation. It was visited by more than 1.000 art lovers.

Primeval Atom

Towards the end of 2019, Leuven’s residents were invited to help come up with an idea for a permanent urban work of art. Over a hundred signed up for the brainstorming session. Afterwards, a dedicated group of 24 got cracking with their brand-new whirlwind of ideas. They voted unanimously for the French artist Félicie d’Estienne d’Orves.

This work of art is a walk through space and time and a magnificent tribute to Georges Lemaître and his Big Bang theory.