TORONTO (June 26, 2024): A creative collaborator and community builder at the forefront of contemporary performance, SUMMERWORKS is thrilled to announce a bold and creative 2024 Festival with 40+ projects across four streams of programming, featuring 100+ artists and creative collaborators from local, national, and international contexts. This year’s Festival theme is Survival Mode. SUMMERWORKS will engage with this idea subtly and bluntly, with nuanced complexity, while holding space for diverse perspectives and lived experiences. The SummerWorks Performance Festival will be held across Toronto at various venues from August 1 to August 11, 2024.

“After receiving and reviewing hundreds of artistic proposals from across Canada, it was abundantly clear that ’survival’ was a significant thread weaving through so many of our creative communities. Arriving at Survival Mode as this year’s Festival theme underpins what has always been true about SummerWorks – we deeply listen to our artists and audiences and respond accordingly with innovative, risky, and boundary-pushing Festival programming. As we respond to the zeitgeist and hold space for all of the nuance and complexity within ‘survival’, we are excited to gather together in conversation and in the community to witness thoughtful, surprising, and inspiring live performance.” – Michael Caldwell, Artistic Director, SummerWorks

Exploring the theme of Survival Mode, SUMMERWORKS proposes gathering through conversations and in the community as a pathway toward understanding, reconciliation, and joy. SUMMERWORKS offers four distinct programming streams: SummerWorks Presentations, SummerWorks Lab, SummerWorks Public Works, and SummerWorks Exchange.

This year, SUMMERWORKS embarks on new and exciting initiatives and partnerships with many local companies and organizations. SummerWorks at Union is a new partnership with programming on eight Wednesday evenings at Union Summer from June 26 to August 21, 2024, marking a significant expansion to the Festival’s summer events and activities. The SummerWorks International Development Strategy fosters long-term and sustainable engagement with diverse international artists and companies, focusing on Taiwan and South Korea in 2024. In addition, our new Summer Break programming initiative highlights performances and workshops focused on rest and reflection.

Tickets go on sale July 11th. Uncover your next magical experience at the 2024 Festival!