The 49th edition of the Borštnik Meeting will see eleven Slovenian productions by eight directors in the running for awards, to be presented at the conclusion of the festival on 26 October.

Picked by selector Amelia Kraigher, the productions are arguably the best of what Slovenian stages produced in the past season, with another seven domestic shows in the accompanying programme.

The festival's artistic director Alja Predan says that Borštnik Meeting is an increasingly relevant European festival. It will feature a selection of guest appearances from abroad with a focus on Spain.

The opening night will see Volksbühne's production "Murmel Murmel", a 1974 play by Dieter Roth consisting of endlessly repeating word Murmel. The piece was directed by Herbert Fritsch.

Other international highlights include Our Secrets by the illustrious Hungarian director Bela Pinter, and the spectacle Golden Age, by Spanish Flamenco dancer and choreographer Israel Galvan.

As part of the Spanish Focus, plays by five contemporary Spanish authors have come out in Slovenian translations in the book Contemporary Drama in Spain.

The theatre company Agrupacion Senor Serrano, which is going through constant changes and combines several theatre art forms, will put on the avant-garde show Brickman Brando Bubble Boom.

On the eve of the opening, posters of the previous editions of the festival were displayed at the foyer of the old hall of SNG Maribor theatre.

Altogether, the festival will feature more than 70 events, running under the motto "Let's Play".

The grand finale will see the Borštnik Ring for lifetime achievement in stage acting conferred on Vlado Novak, who has appeared in more than 100 theatre roles and in more than 40 films.