2008. The Most Beloved Festival
The Street Musicians Festival developed its own unique way of addressing the audience, always carefully listening to every wish and request. The presence of musicians in the city streets and squares was a particularly strong message, but the real beauty of the street theatre is, above everything else, the audience. Novi Sad is a city which accepts changes and therefore we decided to enrich our festival formula with new content, resolute in retaining the best from the previous years. The Festival expanded to the buildings, rooftops, the air above squares, trucks, balconies and other unexpected spots. The great carnival procession did not remain in the streets, now moving to and through boulevards. Beside the concert performances from exceptional local and foreign musical acts, the audience witnessed great open-air spectacles. Again unexpected encounters happened, mutual performances of artists who met for the first time right there in the streets of Novi Sad. For years we persisted in making our Festival not just an import of attractions from abroad, but also a chance for our groups, artists and children to present themselves to the world. This two-way communication street became a reality. Welcome to the 8th Street Musicians Festival, you alone are part of every show and concert, because precisely you, the audience, are the real protagonist of this festival. – was the message we shared with our visitors.
That year the citizens of Novi Sad voted from three of the best loved events of the year and the choice fell on the show of the group Voala, performed mid-air above the Freedom Square, in contention with a new boulevard opening and a medal from the Paralympic games.