COVID-19 has significantly disrupted the festival world.  The health crisis and consequent economic collapse in combination with domestic and international restrictions on gathering and travel has laid waste to the infrastructure of festivals. 

If a festival is curated for one specific context, for example, a thematic proposal in a place with content that depends on physical gatherings, the entire programme could be disrupted if said context is significantly altered. In some cases, it might be possible to postpone the programme, digitize the art, or move the festival to an outdoor or social distanced setting. However, the ability to do this this would depend not only on the agility and flexibility of the festival staff but also on budget, global public health, the artworks, the artists, amongst other factors. Digitization, postponement, hybrid models, socially distanced, and outdoor adaptions are some of the immediate or short-term curatorial response to COVID-19. There will likely be long-term implications as well.

While it is too soon to tell, these could take the form of new programming models and, possibly, a radical reimagining of festivals. Successful programming often aims to address societal needs. The vast global impact of COVID-19 will, undoubtedly, alter every community’s needs and, as a result, is likely to change the way we programme festivals. 

Questions to consider:

• What do my community (and stakeholders) need right now? 

• What will my community (and stakeholders) need in a post-COVID-19 world? 

• How was my festival able to respond to this crisis? 

• How can we prepare for future disasters?

While there are always challenges to programming, restrictions have long been used by artists and curators as opportunities for creative experimentation and exploration—COVID-19 is no different.  Some challenges to consider: 

• Lack of physical mobility, travel restrictions

• Unable to be in and share the same physical space with people

• The loss of in-between time, walking places, hallway conversations, pre/post show drinks 

• Re-evaluating our understanding of access to include digital privilege 

• Audience interest in online programming

• When creating online versions of projects (specially theater, dance or live arts projects that are not originally conceived as a digital work), how do we find the correct filmmaker to present a work that is not cinematic and develop its digital version?

Some opportunities to consider: 

• A chance to explore the local and rethink space

• New possibilities to connect and collaborate digitally 

• New emerging artworks and artforms in response to COVID-19

• A moment to pause, reimagine and improve our practice

• Use of new devises and social media apps that reach a wider (and often, younger) audience, like Instagram or TikTok. How can we use those tools not just to advertise the festival, but also as a platform to include content and present artistic work?

It is good to pause to rethink, reimagine and rework the role of festivals in a changed world, perhaps even undo some of the practices in use before COVID-19. 

Festivals might want to flip their narratives. Instead of connecting prestige to premieres, exclusive performances, large scale productions and packed venues, festivals may want to think of success in terms of how well they support their communities or opportunities they offer to artists. There may be a shift from evaluating tickets sales to evaluating social impact, a shift from diversity to inclusion. 

Instead of competing with other festivals or media forms, festivals might consider working together to make their content more accessible and environmentally sustainable. Well-resourced festivals may want to disrupt their wealth and engage smaller or emerging festivals, knowing that both have assets to share.