Testing Ground Festival

1. How did the mentorship process support or inspire you in developing your project or professional growth?

Mentorship with Mac Andre Arboleda has expanded my understanding of the potential and possibilities of the online platform as a creative outlet and an alternative point of access. This has enhanced both my professional and collective thinking when it comes to creating a festival. Mac has highlighted various projects that are already running in different parts of the world which show that scale and ethical use of tech are possible when it comes to running a festival.

2. What were the three most valuable pieces of advice or guidance you received from your mentor?

• Considering the scale of the festival and looking at alternative venues - such as the spare bedroom and using virtual spaces.

• Inviting people into alternative tech platforms and diversifying how to use social media outreach when advertising a new festival.

• Considering analogue ways of reaching people through newsletters, personal emails, group chats, tags, postcards, etc.

3. Which concrete steps have you taken - or plan to take - to bring your proposed project to life?

The proposed project is a new dance based festival in Galway city/ Ireland - testing ground festival - the first hurdle is securing funding for the production/ organising. This mentorship has allowed me to think more about the scale of the festival and the proximity/ reliance on state funding for this. In this way, we have started to look at other venues and possibilities of starting to gather an audience online and then expanding it to physical spaces that may not be institutionalised. We have applied for funding and in that round been unsuccessful but the feedback has been very positive. We are currently looking to organise a smaller, one day festival in the new year.

4. What is one valuable piece of advice or insight you would like to share with a wider global community of festival leaders?

Urgency is not a measure of time. When looking for alternatives, the question is ‘’alternative to what?"

"We had a discussion about what kinds of technology we want to use in a digital festival, but at the same time, what are the politics." 

Mac Andre Arboleda’s mentorship with Roberta explored both existential and technical dimensions of building digital festivals. He emphasized that decisions about technology cannot be separated from the politics of presenting work digitally today. Mac pointed to the different approaches festivals have taken since 2020, noting that while everyone experimented with digital residencies and online formats during the pandemic, the current political and social context is very different.

He highlighted examples of small, slow, and community-driven platforms that operate a few hours a day or just on weekends, sustaining their communities without heavy reliance on corporate sponsorship. Specific examples include:

• Community radios and small digital platforms operating on principles of generosity and self-sufficiency.

• “No Tech for Apartheid” movements experimenting with online participation outside of major tech platforms.

• Transmediale in Berlin, which successfully stopped using Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter years ago, demonstrating that festivals can thrive without big tech.

• Curators integrating theory and digital practice, such as work on data healing or tropical netting by Juan Pablo Garcia, fostering solidarity across communities and cultures through vernacular and community-based tech practices.

Mac framed the mentorship as a reflection on building digital festivals with intentionality, emphasizing care, community, and sustainability. The discussion inspired the idea of creating a toolkit for digital arts festivals, not only addressing technical solutions but also considering how the politics of technology intersect with how cultural platforms are built and maintained.