Festival Commons: Expressions of Interest now open

Seeding new curatorial ecologies

Festival Commons is a bold new initiative from Sydney Festival that supports the next generation of IBPoC (Indigenous, Black and People of Colour) festival-makers, curators and cultural conveners in Greater Sydney and the Asia Pacific.

We’re assembling community leaders who are already shaping gatherings across drag houses, garage parties, club nights, community kitchens, artist-led spaces, discords, TikTok and beyond.

Our goal is to connect and empower these cultural stewards to make lasting change. Festival Commons is a structural intervention, offering mentorship and resourcing to deepen existing practices with peers, alongside opportunities for skills development, sector disruption and international exchange.

Four participants from Greater Sydney and two participants from the Asia Pacific will be selected for the inaugural cohort. Together, they will form the first Festival Commons: a collective of cultural champions reshaping what festivals can be.

Festival Commons is designed and delivered by Sydney Festival in partnership with Blacktown Arts, Contemporary Asian Australian Performance and Encounter Theatre, and supported by Creative Australia.

What's involved

Festival Immersion (Sydney Festival 2026): a 10-day in-person lab embedded within the Festival’s 50th anniversary program. Dive into masterclasses, roundtables, workshops and provocations with leading artistic and curatorial voices from across Australia and around the world. Indulge in specially crafted itineraries of informal dinners, parties, picnics and site visits that bring the group together in the height of Sydney’s summer. Delight in headline shows with complimentary tickets and behind-the-scenes access that offer a rare peek into how a major international festival comes together.

Pre- and post- online sessions: 4 x 90 minute digital gatherings shaped around urgent sector conversations, designed to connect the cohort across time zones and extend the learning beyond the lab.

Peer-to-peer exchange: Festival Commons is designed to honour the expertise in the room. The cohort will spark provocations, collaborate on ideas and learn from each other’s ways of hosting, gathering and making with community.

Support and accessibility

Honorarium: each participant receives $2,400 AUD for their time.

Travel and accommodation: flights, accommodation and per diems will be covered for international participants, and access needs fully supported for all.

Cultural safety and access: Cultural safety and access riders shaped with and for you, with attention to care infrastructure and cultural protocols. Auslan interpreters, captioning, mobility support and other requirements will be provided on request.

Key details

Applications close: Wednesday 24 September

Lab dates: Thursday 8 January 2026 – Sunday 18 January 2026, in person, with digital gatherings in November 2025 and March 2026.

Location: Greater Sydney and online

Participants paid: Yes, each participant receives an honorarium of $2,400 each to take part in the program.

Access, travel and support provided: Yes

Apply: Via EOI form below

More info: Register for an information session via the button below.

Expressions of Interest for Year One (2026 intake) are now open.

Why we're doing this

In Australia, we only have 5% diverse leadership of our performing arts organisations, and close to no representation across our major festivals. These statistics reflect a national sector out of step with the communities it serves, and hurt us all.

Festival Commons builds on our legacy as the only state festival to have had a First Nations Festival Director, and begins to shape our future as we aim to make festivals that generously meet the times.

Who can apply

We invite applications from:

Curators, producers, cultural organisers and creative workers who identify as IBPoC.
People based in Greater Sydney (with a specific emphasis on Western Sydney), including those working in or alongside community.
People based in the Asia Pacific.
Those who may not identify as “leaders” but are already leading from within the community, in informal or self-determined ways.
People working in ways that are experimental, community-driven, interdisciplinary or activist-rooted.
We especially welcome those working outside institutions, or who’ve been overlooked by traditional leadership programs.

Selection criteria

1. Creative and curatorial vision (30%)

Curiosity, risk-taking and innovation in imagining new models of festival-making.
Capacity to work across disciplines, contexts and cultural frameworks.
Creative magnetism; a compelling voice which fosters excitement around ideas, people and events.

2. Collaborative practice and leadership (30%)

Track record of working respectfully and effectively with diverse collaborators and communities.
Readiness to engage with peers in a spirit of exchange, and uphold cultural safety, equity and justice.

3. Potential for growth and disruption (40%)

Clear goals for personal and professional development through the program.
Ability to translate learning into practice through activating resources, networks and communities.
Potential to challenge dominant narratives, disrupt entrenched systems, and model new ways of working.

Important dates

18 August: EOIs Open

27 August 6pm – 7.15pm (AEST): Online information session

24 September 11.59pm (AEST): EOIs close

Week commencing 6 October 2025: Participants confirmed

November 2025: Digital sessions begin. 23 x 90 minute sessions pending schedules across time zones of participants.

8–18 January 2026: In-person lab (10 days)

March 2026: Post-Festival digital sessions. Two 90-minute sessions pending schedules across time zones of participants.

March–April 2026: Evaluation and design of Year Two

Ready to apply?

Submit your EOI

Or download Expression of Interest questions as a Word Document.

FAQs

What happens during the 10-day lab?

The lab is like a festival within the Festival: eight days of learning, making, sharing and celebrating. Each day runs for six hours, with mornings for big conversations and afternoons for practical sessions and field trips. There is also time to rest, reflect and break bread together.

A day might begin with First Nations curators and Traditional Custodians sharing what it means to practice culture on Country. Later, you might hear field notes from a first-time Artistic Director, followed by a roundtable with Encounter Theatre’s ThisGen Fellows, a local cohort of IBPoC artists reimagining alternate futures in the arts. Afternoons are for closed-door exercises like mapping your ideal position description, or a rare masterclass on concept touring with Sydney Festival Director Kris Nelson.

Evenings spill into the city Festival shows, twilight picnics and parties. Conversations continue long after the sessions end.

Do I need to be working in a formal arts organisation to apply?

No. We encourage applicants from collectives, community spaces, clubs, care work, DIY scenes, digital platforms or other informal spaces.

Do I need to have curated a festival before?

No. We are looking for people with curatorial instincts—ideating, organising, convening, programming, solidarity building. You may not use the word ‘curator’, but if you’re shaping cultural space, you’re eligible.

Will the program be accessible?

Yes. We co-design the access model with each participant, covering physical, sensory, neurodiverse, and carer-related needs. The lab is hybrid, spacious, and supported by trauma-informed facilitators.

Is this a one-off opportunity?

We hope that we can build from this pilot programme to something that grows over the next four years. Therefore, we’d like to co-design how participants can remain connected to the program over four years. You are not just attending a lab—you’re shaping the future of the festival and sector.

If I do not identify as Indigenous, Black and/or PoC, can I still apply to the program?

Festival Commons is a program designed specifically to support emerging curators and producers who identify as Indigenous, Black and/or People of Colour. This focus is intentional. It addresses the historic and ongoing exclusion of IBPoC practitioners from positions of leadership and decision-making in the festivals and cultural institutions. By centring IBPoC voices, the program seeks to create space for leadership models, curatorial frameworks and sector relationships that emerge from lived experience, community connection, and cultural knowledge systems that have too often been marginalised.

If you do not identify as Indigenous, Black and/or a Person of Colour, you are not eligible to apply. This ensures the program’s resources, networks and opportunities are directed towards those for whom it was specifically created, in line with its purpose of shifting representation and rebalancing power in the arts.

We invite you to stand with us in this purpose, and to support the work by championing IBPoC-led leadership in your own circles, organisations and communities.

Is this for me if I live outside Western Sydney?

Yes—if you are in Greater Sydney and share the values, affinities and aspirations of the program. We are prioritising Western Sydney participants but welcome connections across the whole city. There are two reserved places for participants who live in the Asia Pacific region

Where are you considering in the Asia Pacific region?

We have received funding from Creative Australia to support two participants from the Asia Pacific. Participants from the select countries in the region are eligible to apply: China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, UAE, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and the Cook Islands.

Can I apply via video or audio?

Yes. We welcome alternative formats. Details are in the EOI form.

What is the selection process?

The selection process will be assessed against the published criteria using a scoring rubric from one to five. Applications will be reviewed by a panel of all IBPoC artist–curators from Sydney Festival, Blacktown Arts, Encounter Theatre and Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (CAAP).

Need support?

For access needs, questions about eligibility or support preparing your application, please contact:

Maybelline San Juan, Associate Producer

programming@sydneyfestival.org.au

+61 2 8248 6534   

Apply now