The Festival Academy

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The Festival Academy

The Festival Academy is a non-profit initiated by the European Festivals Association.

It is a global capacity-building infrastructure strengthening cultural leaders operating festivals as spaces for civic engagement and societal transformation.

11/08/2026

PASS IT ON FELLOWSHIPS🌼

Small contributions matter!

Orwa Nyrabia (.nyrabia), president of The Festival Academy and former Artistic Director of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IFDA), expresses his love for festivals and explains why it is important to take care of the people around us.

Now, in a time when many artists and festival managers are facing troubled waters, it seems like a good moment to listen to his words and reflect on the things we are doing and the things we still have to do.

The Fellowship program allows young leaders who cannot support themselves to participate in our activities. They become part of the festival community and in time will be able to support themselves and others who need our support.

We at The Festival Academy are asking you to support the next emerging leaders whose work is creating a real, groundbreaking, and measurable impact on those around them. We need you to help PASS IT ON by supporting in any way possible, to sustain our cultural and festival ecosystem and the people around you.

If a thousand people make a small contribution, we can turn this into a better future for our fellows.

Donate today!

Make sure to check the link in bio!

06/07/2026

Final Press Release Theater Der Welt!✨

With almost 17.000 visitors and an attendance rate of 91,8 percent, the THEATER DER WELT festival comes to a close this weekend. The fact that most performances were sold out is a testament to the festival’s enormous popularity with audiences. “Even in the run-up to the event, there was great interest and curiosity about the programme, and this was fully confirmed over the three weeks of the festival,” says Stefan Schmidtke, one of the three festival directors. “For me, this came as no surprise, as Chemnitz had already shown itself to be a cosmopolitan city during its time as European Capital of Culture 2025. The fact that, with funding from the city, the state and the federal government, we were able to bring the festival to Chemnitz straight afterwards was a wise and far-sighted decision in terms of cultural policy, one that ensures the positive impact of the Capital of Culture year will continue to resonate for a long time to come.” Also thanks to extensive media coverage reaching as far as Australia and a reach of millions via social media channels – bolstered by the participating artists from Indonesia, Iran, the Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Japan, France, South Africa, Colombia and many other countries – Chemnitz remains in the international spotlight.

“This unique curatorial experience reaches far beyond this festival, says Inge Ceustermans, one of the Festival Directors. “It is transforming all of us - artists, curators, audiences and partners. The profound insights and inspiration we’ve gathered will shape our personal growth and guide both our individual and collective next steps. It results in next collaborations, ideas and ways of working together beyond our borders and identities. While division and polarization and outright racism become more outspoken by the day, this collaboration is a strong sign of hope for our common humanity.”

06/07/2026

Final Press Release Theater Der Welt!✨

With almost 17.000 visitors and an attendance rate of 91,8 percent, the THEATER DER WELT festival comes to a close this weekend. The fact that most performances were
sold out is a testament to the festival’s enormous popularity with audiences. “Even in the run-up to the event, there was great interest and curiosity about the programme, and
this was fully confirmed over the three weeks of the festival,” says Stefan Schmidtke, one of the three festival directors. “For me, this came as no surprise, as Chemnitz had
already shown itself to be a cosmopolitan city during its time as European Capital of Culture 2025. The fact that, with funding from the city, the state and the federal
government, we were able to bring the festival to Chemnitz straight afterwards was a wise and far-sighted decision in terms of cultural policy, one that ensures the positive
impact of the Capital of Culture year will continue to resonate for a long time to come.” Also thanks to extensive media coverage reaching as far as Australia and a reach of
millions via social media channels – bolstered by the participating artists from Indonesia, Iran, the Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Japan, France, South
Africa, Colombia and many other countries – Chemnitz remains in the international spotlight.

“This unique curatorial experience reaches far beyond this festival, says Inge Ceustermans, general director of The Festival Academy. “It is transforming all of us - artists, curators, audiences and partners. The profound insights and inspiration we’ve gathered will shape our personal growth and guide both our individual and collective next steps. It results in next collaborations, ideas and ways of working together beyond our borders and identities. While division and polarization and outright racism become more outspoken by the day, this collaboration is a strong sign of hope for our common humanity.”

09/06/2026

⚡️Festivals as Spaces for New Ideas⚡️

My head has been filled with reflecting upon our world, its complexity and our humanity with great thinkers and writers of our times at How the Light Gets In () and Hay Festival (), two festivals overlapping for 3 days in the small ‘Town of Books’ Hay-on-Wye in Wales.

I’ve listened and debated with remarkable minds as - to name only a few - Minna Salami, who re-imagines feminism beyond borders; Gillian Tett, Financial Times columnist who predicted the 2008 crisis; Guy Standing, trailblazingg advocate of universal basic income; Kehinde Andrews, first black studies professor in the UK; Victoria Trumbull, philosopher challenging materialist consensus; Cory Doctorow, digital rights activists and many more. I’ve attended conversations between some of my favourite writers Bernardine Evaristo and Yvette Edwards on writing about multigenerational families, putting women at the centre of their work. I also got very inspired by a conversation between the journalist Ángel Gurría-Quintana and Milton Hatoum, Brazilian writer exploring themes that have helped him find his own creative voice, including memory, democracy and the role that time and literature play in reshaping our common knowledge of history.

Spending time immersed in the ideas of both festivals and in the amazing landscape surrounding Hay-on-Wye, provided a sanctuary for my mind. I’m reminded again and again how little I know and that life is for me an ongoing humble voyage of learning.

Festivals are incredible spaces for new ideas or for old ones to be revisited in new ways. They are platforms for dialogue which are connected to a diversity of people and can impact thinking, behaviour and the way we perceive reality and connect with each other.

With incredible gratitude to my long standing festival friends Peter Florence for April Cottage and to Cristina Fuentes la Roche for her warm welcome at Hay Festival!
And to my new friend Omari Edwards for his welcome and care at HTLGI!

- Inge Ceustermans, General Director The Festival Academy

04/05/2026

📢 We are happy to announce that we are opening registrations for two online sessions as part of our Voices From series. We started organising the series 2024 together with alumni of the TFA community with the aim to create a space to listen and stay present with the realities lived by cultural workers from regions affected by conflict or systemic injustice. ✨

🗣️Voices From Iran
14 May, 3:00 PM CEST
At a moment when war, repression, and over a month of internet blackout make it difficult to understand what is happening inside Iran – even for those living through it – we turn to artists and cultural workers from Iran whose practices persist despite fear and uncertainty. This session opens space for the realities they are navigating, the forms of care and solidarity that sustain them, and perspectives that remain unheard in international conversations. Speakers: Sepehr Sharifzadeh , Helia Shadifar , Arezoo Kazanbeik

🗣️Voices From: Festivals That Are Disappearing
21 May, 3:00 PM CEST
In many regions, festivals hold communities together as artistic, social, and political ecosystems. Today, many have disappeared, become dormant, or been forced into silence due to political, economic, or infrastructural pressures. This session brings together speakers from Iran, Turkey, and Argentina to reflect on what is lost, what remains, and how artistic practices continue when festival infrastructures collapse. Speakers: Amirali Ghasemi , Mohammad Abbasi .abbassi, Roni Isola .isola, Fatih Gençkal .

Both sessions include short presentations followed by a Q&A. Participation is based on registration. For more information and the registration form follow link in bio. 👈

We look forward to connecting with you.
Register now! ✍️

29/04/2026

On the 27th of April, Mette Van Zoest was awarded with the Cultural Management Masterthesis Award 2026, granted by The Cultural Management Fund at Antwerp University🎓💚

She developed her thesis during an internship at The Festival Academy. The paper “About Non-democracy: Conversation and Understanding, (Dis)trust and Space.” is based on interviews with Alumni of The Festival Academy. Case studies and best-practice examples from the research have been translated into a new toolkit that is now online 🌍

“This award feels not only as a special recognition of my thesis research, but I think more importantly it is a recognition of the work people are doing out there to create spaces for people to make and experience arts in places where this is not an easy thing to do.” - 💐👩‍🎓

Find out more about Mette’s research and the way festivals can be important spaces in the discourse on democracy in our new Toolkit! ➡️ link in bio👀

21/04/2026

Part II - Placements & Exchange opportunities 💚

🎪 There are 25 festivals in total eager to host TFA Alumni as part of their production or artistic teams! Below you will find 12 of these opportunities, taking place in 10 different countries! Check out Part I to discover the others!

- Festival iMí (Nigeria)

- Førdefestivalen (Norway)

- Palestine International Theater Festival for Children (Palestine)

- Bethlehem Site-Specific Theater Festival (Palestine)

- Kind Family Gathering (Portugal)

- Spider Festival of Radical Bodies (Slovenia)

- FestMusic Mallorca (Spain)

- Festival Rizomes (Spain)

- FOG Festival (Switzerland)

- WorldPride Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

- Skillz Dance Festival (Uganda)

- Citizen Arts International (USA)

✍️ Are you a TFA Alumni interested in doing a Placement & Exchange? Find out more and apply via the link in bio!

21/04/2026

Part I - Placements & Exchange opportunities 💚

🎪 There are 25 festivals in total eager to host TFA Alumni as part of their production or artistic teams! Below you will find 13 of these opportunities, taking place in 10 different countries! Check out Part II post to discover the others!

- Chronofest Performing Arts Festival (Armenia)

- Jardín Teatro Fest (Argentina) .teatrolaboratorio

- WIENWOCHE Festival for Art and Activism (Austria)

- Water Tower Art Fest (Bulgaria)

- Peculiar Families Festival (Croatia)

- Pilsen Busking Fest (Czech Republic) pilsenbuskingfest

- Hýl Festival of Healing Sound (Czech Republic)

- Passabay Collective (DRC) .collective

- Festival Bantargebang (Indonesia)

- Dinamico Festival (Italy)

- Easter Theatre Festival (Malawi)

- Nyasa International Film Festival (Malawi)

- Nepal Human Rights International Film Festival (Nepal)

✍️ Are you a TFA Alumni interested in doing a Placement & Exchange? Find out more and apply via the link in bio!

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