The 2024 Guilin Festival kicked off in Guilin, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Saturday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Southwest Drama Exhibition. [Photo by He Pingjiang/for chinadaily.com.cn]

Running from Oct 26 to Nov 3, the event features 48 performances by artists from six countries including Sweden, Australia, South Korea, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Many performances will take place outdoors with nature as a backdrop, such as mountain theaters, cave theaters, tree theaters and tent theaters. The festival also features theatrical parades, artistic dialogues, urban art displays and theater education initiatives, transforming the city into an "unwalled theater".