SummerWorks International Development Strategy

The SummerWorks International Development Strategy fosters long-term and sustainable engagement with diverse international artists and companies from specific countries and geographic regions.

Each year, Artistic Director Michael Caldwell travels to various international festivals, markets, and conferences to seed partnerships, grow relationships, and manifest opportunities for creative exchange.

Conversations are ongoing with artists, and often lead to engagements across multiple Festivals, with lengthier stays in Toronto, and in Canada. This provides an opportunity for meaningful connections with local artists and creative collaborators.

The SummerWorks International Development Strategy firmly plants relationship-building and ongoing collaboration at the centre, while offering audiences an opportunity to follow an artist’s creative journey over a multi-year cycle. This strategy specifically supports independent artists and small companies/collectives in live performance, and provides SummerWorks with more time and additional opportunities to actively seek funding from a variety of local, national, and international partners and sponsors.

2026 marks our most international Festival to date, with artists and creative collaborators from ten (10) different countries and regions! Scroll down to learn more about the international artists within the 2026 SummerWorks Performance Festival.