2025 Call for Proposals

Bringing innovative performance to Kingston in Summer 2025

Kingston, Ontario — The Kingston Theatre Alliance is putting out a Canada-wide call for proposals for the 11th annual Kick & Push Festival, Kingston’s largest and longest-running performance festival. 

We are seeking proposals for both fully-developed projects as well as artistic residencies, all of which will culminate in original, innovative, live happenings to be experienced safely by our audiences this coming July and August. Physical presence in Kingston is not required depending on the nature of the project.

What You Get

Each chosen proposal will be provided with staffing support, production costs, and artist compensation as per professional rates. Fully-developed projects will receive professional rates for presentation up to $15,000. Residencies will receive up to $8,000 cumulatively towards both creation and performance costs.

Each artistic residency will be composed of up to two weeks of creation, followed by one week of public sharing of the work-in-progress. Depending on the nature of the project, residencies can be shorter than three weeks. While the residency period does not necessarily need to fall within the Festival dates (July 24th - August 17th) the presentation dates do.

Creators will retain control of their work.

Assessment and Priorities

Fundamentally, The Kick & Push Festival is a festival of innovative performance. It’s a broad category, so if you’re looking for more guidance, check out our Best Practices document.

Proposals will be assessed according to the degree to which the audience experience is live, unique, innovative, and compelling. Successful proposals will be logistically and financially feasible. Proposals that involve Kingston-affiliated creators and/or regional content are especially encouraged. We are eagerly looking for digital, hybrid, and analogue experiences by creators from equity-seeking communities, and welcome content that spans diverse perspectives.

How To Apply

Use the form at the link below to apply. The form will require you to type into text boxes to answer some questions about your proposal as well as upload additional documents. It is suggested to type your answers out in a file on your computer and then paste them into the form, as the form does not save automatically.

There is no application fee. 

Our submission form is primarily configured to accept typed digital applications. If you prefer or need to submit in a different format, or if you require additional accommodations during the application process, please contact us at access@thekickandpush.com.

Apply here!

*Submission deadline: April 9th, 2025 at 11:59PM EDT

If you want additional guidance,
please consult our Best Practices document.