Open Call 2025

Submissions Closed

Thank you for your interest in the Fringify – Independent Arts Festival Hamburg!

The submission period has officially ended. We are no longer accepting applications.

For any questions, feel free to contact us at info@fringiy.hamburg .

Thank you!

Note on Plain Language:
If you need the Open Call 2025 in plain language or have further questions, feel free to contact us at info@fringify.hamburg.

From June 5 to 8, 2025, the 11th edition of Fringify – Independent Arts Festival Hamburg invites artists from Hamburg and beyond, aiming to foster strong regional and international connections. The focus is on independent performing arts, while the festival also welcomes contributions from other artistic disciplines and interdisciplinary formats.

We are looking for artists and visionaries who push boundaries and stand for a diverse and solidarity-based society.

You can use the application form on this website to submit your projects. Applications via email cannot be accepted. However, if you experience technical difficulties with the form, please contact support@fringify.hamburg so we can ensure that you are able to submit your application.

We look forward to your applications and to shaping the 11th edition of Fringify together!

Terms and Conditions for the Open Call 2025

Application Deadline

January 3rd, 2025, at 18:00 CET (03.01.2025)

You can submit your application until January 3rd, 2025, at 18:00 CET. Productions premiering in December 2024 can submit the documentation video by January 10, 2025.

Submission Limit

Each lead artist or artistic collective may submit only one production.

Compensation

Fringify Festival pays €400 per person for a performance, including the rehearsal. If additional rehearsals are required, a compensation of €200 per person may be granted by agreement.

Accommodation and Travel Costs

Fringify Festival does not cover accommodation or travel costs for productions from Hamburg.

For regional and international productions, we cover travel costs and up to a maximum of 2 overnight stays per person.

Technical Support

If you have technical issues with the application form, please contact us at support@fringify.hamburg before submitting your application via email. We will do our best to assist you.

Selection Process

An independent jury will make the final selection by the end of January 2025. The selected productions will be notified by email in February. We will announce the jury members in December.

Further Information

For productions with elaborate sets, special technical requirements, or specific space needs, we kindly ask you to provide the relevant details in the application.

We explicitly encourage applications from individuals with experiences of racism, antisemitism, or other forms of marginalization. Within the limits of spatial accessibility, individuals with disabilities will also be given preference if they have the same qualifications and suitability!

Apply here

Name of the lead artist/artistic collective:

Postal address

Telephone number:

Title of the production:

Form of production (e.g., performance, installation, concert):

Short description of the production (max. 3000 characters):

Your production is:

Date and location of the premiere:

Number of people directly involved in the performance (e.g., performer, musician, live video):
(Please specify which team members live in Hamburg and which are from outside Hamburg. For team members outside Hamburg, please mention their place of residence.)

Additional rehearsal requirements
(If your production has specific requirements that necessitate an additional rehearsal outside the general rehearsal, please provide the details below, including the type of rehearsal and any setup requirements. If no additional rehearsal is needed, please enter "Not required.")

Does the production have a translation into English or German, for example in the form of subtitles and/or audio description?

Trigger warning (Content, loud music, intense light effects such as quick changes, strobe lights, or similar):

Notes on Accessibility

Relaxed Performance

Other aspects of accessibility

Detailed concept of the proposed production (PDF, max. 5 MB):

Technical requirements of the production (PDF, max. 5 MB):
(Please attach important documents such as the tech rider, lighting plan, and stage plan, and specify if you will be bringing your own technical staff.)

Media Photos (min. 2, max. 5; max. 5 MB):
(Please upload 2 to 5 high-resolution images that can optionally be used for the program on our website, press releases, and other promotional purposes if your production is selected.)

Documentation links for the production (e.g., videos, audio, photos):
(Please provide relevant links to documentation content related to the production you have submitted. Depending on the type of your production, this may include a video documentation for theater, dance, and performance shows, photos for exhibitions, or concert recordings in video or audio formats. Make sure to provide the full web addresses (URLs) for each link and ensure that they are publicly accessible. Productions premiering in December can send their documentation videos to opencall@fringify.hamburg by January 10. Please include the name of the production and the artists/collective in the email subject.)

CV/Resume (PDF, max. 5 MB)

Portfolio - Information about completed projects (PDF, max. 5 MB)

Website:

Data Protection:

I consent to the processing of my data in accordance with the GDPR and allow its use for the application to Fringify – Independent Arts Festival Hamburg 2025.

Jury Members 2025

Laura Besch

Laura Besch, raised in Salzburg, studied German Studies, Musicology, and Human Medicine in Berlin. Since 2013, she has been producing performances, performative concerts, and audio walks with her performance collective hannsjana. Her work with hannsjana has taken her to theaters (Sophiensaele Berlin, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Luzerner Theater) and museums (Museum für Kommunikation Berlin, Technoseum Mannheim). She has participated in residency programs at Gessnerallee (Zurich), brut (Vienna), and spent time as a visiting artist at Back to Back Theatre in Geelong, Australia. Since June 2023, Laura Besch has been part of the Artistic Direction at Theater Thikwa in Berlin.

www.thikwa.de

Viktoria Draganova

Curator, founder of the art space Swimming Pool and its artistic director. Initiator of diverse educational programs and research platforms, including the Center for Social Vision. in 2024, Viktoria launched Nine Elephants, a micro-festival for art interventions in urban space. Viktoria also contributes to cultural policy development through her participation in working groups and committees. Based in Sofia, she studied law in Berlin and holds a PhD in legal history.

www.swimmingpoolprojects.org

Ayna Steigerwald

Ayna Steigerwald (she/her) works as a writer and dramaturge in the independent arts scene, organizes readings, and explores questions of solidarity within spaces and events. She was part of the artistic direction of ULF – Das Unabhängige Lesereihen Festival in Nuremberg and the art and discourse festival fluctoplasma in Hamburg. She has contributed to projects such as the photo-text installations mo|men|tos and, most recently, the temporary art lab REMISE. In 2022, she was awarded the Hamburg Literature Prize for Poetry, and in 2024, she received the Adalbert Stifter Fellowship.