Putting on a red nose and without any introduction, Fan Haoru emerges on the stage and attracts a big crowd for the show.

Fan has a regular day job as a college lecturer in graphic design. Performing as a clown since 2013, Fan describes himself as an "amateur" at this traditional art, but he takes his side job seriously.

"I live in Huaihua, a fourth-tier city, and we don't have many plays to see. I buy all the tickets for foreign performances at Wuzhen Theater Festival to nurture my soul. What attracts me the most about clown performance is its close interaction with the audience," said Fan, the clown artist from Fan Theater.

It's Fan's 8th appearance in the theater festival. Street theater, music, contemporary performance art, and puppet shows every year, hundreds of theater troupes from all over China are nurtured in the festival.

CIE Wulong is a Shanghai-based theatrical troupe that focuses on public space performances. "In fact, 20 years ago, people could not accept this kind of immersive performances or performances in public spaces. Now they are slowly accepting and understanding and then beginning to realize the importance of it. Now many art festivals have begun to have these kinds of performances," said Sun Rongbo, the art director of CIE Wulong.

CIE Wulong is also dedicated to combining traditional art forms with modern elements. Due to COVID-19, international troupes are hard to attract to the theater festival, but local ones from all over China are working hard to go global.

The past three years have been tough for theater troupes because of COVID-19, but with things getting better, they hope to have a smashing time in the coming year. "After COVID, I believe our performances in public spaces will flourish and have a brand new era," said Sun.

No matter whether pursuing hobbies or adding color to traditional art, the love of the performing arts drives more people, and the performances dazzle people day and night.