Recap of our Festival Visit at dFERIA - Donostia / San Sebastián (Spain)

Exactly one year after our Atelier for Young Festival Managers in San Sebastian / Donostia, we returned to the Basque coastal city for a Festival Visit at dFERIA, together with an amazing group of TFA Alumni. 

From 14-18 March 2026, we discovered in-depth the programme of the Performing Arts Fair which featured shows from the Basque country, Spain, Latin America and many more. This year's edition focused on the Danish performing arts scene, highlighting not only inspiring artistic productions from Denmark but also facilitating exchange and networking events. 

The Festival Visit also included hybrid working sessions to connect with participants from Palestine, Iraq, South Africa unable to travel due to closed airspace caused by the ongoing war in Iran. Through this virtual bridge their voices contributed meaningfully to the conversations in Spain. 

What emerged was not just discussion, but a collective questioning: How do we act when mobility, safety and dignity are unequally distributed? What is the role of festivals in times of violence? And can we hold space for both love and rage? 

What stayed with us were not only the questions, but the commitments we left with:

- to move people through the arts,
- to support artists who speak out,
- to help sustain artists’ lives in times of threat,
- to choose authenticity over silence,
- to use our positions to support one another
- and simply, to show up as friends and hold each other.

This was just the beginning of a conversation we hope to keep having, again and again. 

Thank you to all at dFERIA for providing the platform, and to our wonderful Alumni group for their care, courage, and thoughtful contributions.