With an overall number of 90,227 visitors, this year’s festival stands even taller than the 30-year jubilee edition in Linz’s European Capital of Culture Year 2009. “This magnificent response went far beyond our wildest dreams,” beams Gerfried Stocker, Ars Electronica’s artistic director. “We had certainly counted on the absolute novelty of the Tabakfabrik as a venue attracting new visitors but this figure is way ahead of anything we would have dared to expect or even to hope for.“

While the festival made the most of the unique opportunities offered by the “Tabakfabrik”, the whole business was a tremendous challenge for the Ars Electronica team. “The sheer dimensions of the premises are such that they’re almost impossible to get to grips with – regardless whether we are talking about technological issues or the conception of a visitors’ guidance system. And as if things weren’t complicated enough already, you aren’t even allowed to knock a nail into most walls because it’s a listed building,” says Martin Honzik, the Festival’s head of production. “This is why I would like to use this opportunity to give a big public thank-you to my team for their truly great input.”

Another decisive factor in the success of Ars Electronica 2010 was the broad collaboration of Linz’s arts and culture scene and the great commitment made bythe city’s administration and its business community: “It’s the kind of commitment that you can never take for granted. Nevertheless it’s been one of Linz’s distinctive hallmarks over the years. It’s the reason why things take off here that would be plainly impossible in most other places.” This is the assessment of Diethard Schwarzmair, Ars Electronica’s commercial director. “The mere fact that the Pre-Opening at the Tabakfabrik attracted around 1,500 representatives of the local business community underlines the tremendous interest that the Festival met with this year. This calls for another cordial Thank you!”

via aec.at