List of theatre festivals


Theatre festivals are amongst the earliest types of festival. Classical Greek theatre was associated with religious festivals dedicated to Dionysus, called the City Dionysia. The medieval mystery plays were presented at the major Christian feasts. Theatre as an everyday part of life is a comparatively recent phenomenon.
In recent years, theatre festivals have been established to promote various types of theatre, such as the works of William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw. Many festivals, such as those in the fringe theatre movement, promote the work of beginning playwrights and performers.
This is a list of theatre festivals around the world:

Theatre festivals

NameCityRegionCountryType
2004ManchesterEnglandAnnual
Adelaide Festival of Arts1960AdelaideSouth Australia
Atlanta Black Theatre Festival2012AtlantaGeorgiaAnnual/International
Avignon Festival1947AvignonAnnual
Bitola Shakespeare Festival1948BitolaPelagoniaAnnual
Belgrade International Theatre Festival1967BelgradeAnnual
Contemporary American Theater Festival1991ShepherdstownWest VirginiaAnnual
Colorado New Play Festival2018Steamboat SpringsColoradoAnnual
Dublin Theatre Festival1957DublinAnnual
Edinburgh International Festival1947EdinburghScotlandAnnual
Fajr International Theater Festival1983Annual
FEDU2015SarajevoAnnual
Harare International Festival of the Arts1999Harare
Guwahati Theatre Festival2016GuwahatiAssamAnnual
IAPAR International Theatre Festival2016PuneMaharashtraAnnual
International Festival of Children's Theatres1994SuboticaVojvodinaInternational
International Shakespeare Festival Craiova1994CraiovaDolj CountyEvery second year
International Theatre Festival of Kerala2008ThrissurKeralaAnnual
International Thespian FestivalLincolnNebraskaAnnual
Intiman Theatre Festival1972SeattleWashingtonAnnual
Joakimfest2004City of Kragujevac
Juventafest2013Sarajevo
Last Frontier Theatre Conference1995ValdezAlaska
Malta Festival Poznan1991PoznańGreater PolandAnnual
MasterWorks Festival1997CedarvilleOhioAnnual
MESS International Theatre Festival1960SarajevoAnnual
National Arts Festival1974GrahamstownEastern CapeAnnual
NatyanjaliSouth India
New Works Festival2002Palo AltoCaliforniaAnnual
2008OstravaMoravia-SilesiaAnnual
Pacific Playwrights Festival1998Costa MesaCaliforniaAnnual three day festival
Salzburg Festival1920SalzburgAnnual
2014NiceProvence-Alpes-Côte d'AzurAnnual
Shaw Festival1962Niagara-on-the-LakeOntarioAnnual
Sibiu International Theatre Festival1993SibiuTransylvaniaAnnual
Shakespeare's Festival at Catalonia2003BarcelonaCataloniaAnnual
Shakespeare Festival at Hamlet's castle1816ElsinoreCapital Annual
Shadow Theatre Festival2015BhopalAnnual
Tbilisi International Festival of Theatre2009TbilisiAnnual
United Solo Theatre Festival2010New York CityNew YorkAnnual
Williamstown Theatre Festival1954WilliamstownMassachusettsAnnual
Yerevan International Shakespeare Theater Festival2004YerevanYerevanAnnual
Zürcher Theater Spektakel1980ZürichAnnual