A portal has opened – Kindling Fest 2026 applications are live
Kindling Arts has announced the dates for its 2026 Kindling Arts Festival. Set for July 23–26, 2026, the festival will feature more than a dozen original performances and events in West Nashville. Applications are now open through December 15, 2025 for local artists interested in presenting new works in dance, theatre, comedy, film, puppetry, performance art, and other multidisciplinary forms.
Founded in 2018, Kindling Arts is Nashville’s independent multidisciplinary arts festival, dedicated to championing innovative new works by local creators. Each summer, the festival features more than a dozen original performances and events that celebrate experimentation, collaboration, and community across the performing arts.
The 2026 festival theme “Utopias” invites artists and audiences alike to embrace imagination as a radical act. The idea of a utopian future can seem an unattainable ideal during these turbulent times. But Kindling’s upcoming festival aims to approach it as an active process — a way to think differently about collaboration and community. The concept encourages artists to explore what it means to build a better world through their creative practice.
“In a time when the world can feel fractured and exhausting, utopian thinking can seem naïve,” write co-founders and co-artistic directors Jessika Malone and Daniel Jones. “But at Kindling, we believe that artists have always been the first architects of better worlds.”
Rather than viewing utopia as unattainable, Kindling’s upcoming festival will approach it as an active process—a way of thinking differently about collaboration, care, and creativity. The programming aims to inspire artists to consider how their work can model systems of belonging, justice, and joy in the here and now.
In addition to the annual festival, Kindling Arts hosts workshops and special programs year-round to nurture emerging and independent artists in Nashville. Selected applicants for the 2026 festival will receive developmental support and presentation opportunities as part of the citywide event.
Applications for project proposals are open now through December 15, 2025, at kindlingarts.com.
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Nastassja is a Hong Kong native who called Boston home for 7 years. She graduated with a BS in Journalism from Emerson College and is currently located in Fort Smith, Arkansas. When she isn’t writing or reading, you can find her crocheting and spending time with her husband, dog, and two cats.
