Artists were paralysed in the beginning of the pandemic, but festivals started creating new projects (rough outlines were already there, but with enough room for development). Funds started opening but there was a mix up because new ideas were coming in, but some artists struggled focusing into getting their work done. Stress started piling with alternative programs being developed. There was a need to create, but there was also a paralysis and shock.   

Some of our learnings: 

• Covid-19 has pushed festivals to redefining their mission, vision and what the concept for a festival and what audience development means. 

• It is a good opportunity to rethink our festival, and work on institutional marketing strategies by letting more potential audiences know about what we are doing and why we do so. 

• The pause has forced us to ask questions on accessibility (persons with disability, access to technology, marginalized, etc.), who we left out and who we can bring in. How can we be more inclusive as organisers.  

• As we slowly start planning towards physical performances, how are we engaging with the audiences we built on a digital form that might not be able to attend physically to our festival? 

• What are our plans to re-engage our audiences like in “pre-Covid-19”-times? 

• The crisis has pushed festival managers to adapt the content to an online paradigm and readapt our platforms. 

• What is our plan to reassure our audience’s safety when coming back to the venues? 

• How can we achieve tangibility while we continue to work under lock-down conditions with online programming? 

• Interaction between audiences and artists is an important tool for live performances. How do we create a connection in between the artists and the audience while presenting online works (reactions online)? 

• Audience is not limited anymore but how do we manage to keep that audience engaged with so many offerings? 

• How do we keep the essence of the festival for an online audience? 

• As inequalities and injustices are highlighted by where Covid-19 has hit the hardest, how do we bridge that gap in the arts world?  

• It is important to continue doing advocacy for arts education through artistic workshops development program 

• Not everyone has access to technology. 

• It is hard for arts organisations to collect data about who has watched which show online. 

• Meeting break-even costs of producing a festival with limited audience members and higher running costs. The smaller number of audiences can also affect the performance experience. 

• There is the possibility to experiment with new forms of engagement and performance. 

• It can be hard to ensure that our loyal/ regular audiences participate in our online shows as well. 

• It is an opportunity to reach potential audiences, who are ready to be persuaded, and change them to be our audiences or even regular audiences by the events online. 

• We can find partnerships in other industries who may share the same customer groups with us and promote each other through websites.