A curated festival is usually lead by an artistic director and a group of programmers who select the specific programs and acts that will be part of the main festival. There are different ways on how a festival can choose the programming, from attending other festivals, attending conferences and pitching sessions, or by commissioning and co-producing new works. 

As Festival Managers, one of the key components and responsibilities we have towards taking care of artists is to develop long-term relationships with them and continue to promote the development of their work. Simultaneously, it is also our responsibility to allow new voices to enter a festival, and not only the renowned names within our field.

Another format to source new works is an open call, where all artists can submit their proposal to exhibit their work and, subsequently, the artistic directors from the festival make a final decision regarding the selected works. There are websites such as ArtsJobs.com that list different open calls for Festivals, from different fields in the arts. 

Link: https://www.artjobs.com/open-calls/festivals 

Some organizations have a hybrid programming system with a curated season and an open call. An example of such type of festival is RedCat in Downtown Los Angeles. Aside from their main series, which includes theatre, music, film/video, visual art, multimedia, and family programming, they have an open call process. It has been deemed as an “open call series” called NOW Festival (New Original Works Festival), where artists can submit a sample of their work for consideration. 

While a main festival usually invites established/renowned artists, a fringe festival is an alternative where a wider range of artists can participate exhibiting their work. A fringe festival is a wonderful way for artists to exhibit and sell their work to potential presenters. One of the main challenges is that, because of the high number of participants, there is a lot of competition for both the main and the fringe version of the festival. Also, in most fringe festivals, the financial support provided by festival organizers is minimum, or non-existent. 

The application of this model can vary a lot. Some fringe festivals provide support on finding a venue and help with marketing. Some do have a selection team which chooses the works to participate in the fringe, while others allow for everyone to participate if they can do so through finding their own resources. In terms of income, models can change a lot as well, from box-office income being shared with the venue to a small stipend provided by Festival organizers. 

An audience selection festival can be a great way for artists and festivals to interact with their audience. Sometimes it can be presented in form of a contest, or also by market research, where Festival organizers can apply surveys to obtain input from their audiences regarding the type of work they would like to see in the future. 

A great way to understand our audiences is by organizing post-performance events where audiences can share their thoughts of the event in an informal way. In the age of social media, we also need to be conscious of what audiences are saying about our festival and use their feedback for future programming. 

Creating a new work can be a real challenge for artists in terms of time and resources (financial, mental, physical, etc.) in an already challenging arts world where budgets are usually tight. One way how we can help our artists and each other to develop new work is by co-producing and co-commissioning works between similar fields.