We are now open for submissions for Outburst Queer Arts Festival 15-23 November 2024.
Please read the submissions guidelines below carefully before sending through your proposal, as we’ll only accept submissions with the requested materials and information included.
Outburst is a queer festival, so we tend to look beyond mainstream LGBTQ+ thematics to offer audiences thought provoking, fresh and challenging work around sexuaility and gender (and all that intersects with those) that they won’t experience elsewhere in this part of the world. We encourage anyone submitting a proposal to have a look at previous festival events in the brochures in our archive HERE , especially over the last three years, before sending through your proposal. You can also check out our broader strategy HERE, to get a sense of what Outburst is all about.
HOW WE PROGRAMME
Outburst Queer Arts Festival is a curated week of brilliant new queer ideas in art. We programme a mix of work that we’ve seen and can’t wait to share, along with shows, publications, events and happenings that we’ve commissioned or co-developed in collaboration with queer artists and other co-conspirators at home and beyond. All of the work we showcase in the festival is new work, keeping it fresh and vital for audiences and relevant to the moment we are in. We love creative ideas that take audiences beyond the obvious and the normative. So we centre work that challenges our thinking, brings us to unexpected spaces and places and reimagines the possibilities of queer art to transform.
Tender transgressions and beautiful disruptions can come in surprising forms, big and small, loud and quiet, and we’re here for it all.
We always make sure there’s room for as many hidden treasures and exciting new creative voices as possible in Outburst. We accept submissions on a rolling basis until the end of May * each year. We especially love work from artists and writers in Northern Ireland / The North Of Ireland / This Place but we programme work from all over the world.
SUBMISSIONS PROCESS
There are two ways you can submit work / ideas as an artist or company from January 1st to May 31st each year.
* While we accept event submissions until May, please be aware that if your idea is not already in development or doesn’t have the necessary funding support in place from Outburst or another source by then, it is unlikely to be considered for programming this year. It may be considered for the following year. This is to ensure that you have plenty of time to develop and produce your event. If you send a proposal earlier in the year, there is a stronger chance that it may be programmed, as it gives us time to work with you on any development that might be needed to make it work well for the festival later in the year.
We don’t accept play or film scripts as part of the Open Call unless they are already in production or have production imminent. Please email us separately to the Open Call to discuss possibilities for development if your script is not aleady in production with a performer or company.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All materials submitted should be in one single PDF or Word document as an email attachment, including video links, images and scripts.
Unfortunately we cannot accept links to download applications and submissions.
If you prefer to send a video or audio link describing your project, please ensure that it is no more than 5 minutes in duration and that you still submit any additional materials that are relevant.
1. Email hello@outburstarts.com and tell us in no more than 400 words about your idea or event, or send us a detailed tour pack/ event pack if you have one.
Please also send an artist or company CV of no more than one page. If you don’t have one, please send a paragraph outlining your previous work / creative experience.
It is also helpful if you submit a basic budget for artist fees, tech and venue needs and anot other essential related costs. Please break this down line by line per cost.
If you are submitting a film for consideration, please send a screening link. We do not charge submission fees.
2. Email hello@outburstarts.com to request a Clinic+ session with our creative team to chat through an idea before you submit it. Just send us paragraph about your idea and your artistic practice to date and we’ll arrange a 30 minute chat. We especially recommend this route for new or emerging artists / writers / performers, as it can be more supportive if you haven’t produced much work before. We can also offer advice if there’s something in particular you need help with and can signpost you to other resources or opportunities for development support. Clinics are informal and supportive, anything you share with us while you are working things out will not impact on how your final proposal will be assessed.
We aim to respond to all emails within two weeks.
Please note that if you send submissions for the next year in the September to November period, it’s unlikely we will get back to you until after the November festival, as we are in full event production mode during this time.
If you are an established venue / organisation / project interested in collaborating in some way with Outburst for the festival, please email hello@outburstarts.com with “For attention of the Artistic Director” in the subject line of your email and Ruth will get back to you as soon as possible.
