BELFAST 13-21 November 2015
Hello. We’re open for business. Show business. Over the last nine years, OUTBURST has grown from a small community event in Belfast to a dynamic celebration of local and international queer Arts, culture, visibility and ideas. We aim to entertain and inspire our diverse audience, while raising awareness of LGBTQI* stories and issues in Northern Ireland through performance, theatre, film, talks, music, workshops, visual art and much more. Add the best audiences, craic and community spirit you could ask for and....Ta-DAH!... welcome to the show! As a curated festival that loves sharing new ideas and new ways of telling our stories, we are as passionate about facilitating a creative space for new queer voices as we are about bringing you brilliant professional and international touring work. We love events that bring audiences something new, inspiring, eyepopping or downright entertaining as hell, or that really encourage and enable people to be involved in creating social change. We believe that art can change the world. It can also change your wardrobe. No pressure. About half of our programming each year is brilliant new work that we seek out or develop for the festival. But we know that there are artists and projects and ideas out there that we don’t get to hear about, so here’s your chance to tell us what we’ve missed. This is the bit we really love.
WHAT WE PROGRAMME OUTBURST programmes work that fits one or more of the following criteria: 1. Has a lesbian, gay, bi, trans, intersex or queer theme 2. Is created or presented by an LGBTQI identified writer/producer/ performer 3. Is of particular interest to people who are LGBTQI. To keep the festival exciting, we prioritise artists and work that haven’t be seen in Northern Ireland before and that will not be available to experience elsewhere here throughout the year. We do welcome new work from returning artists. Keep it fresh! While we love developing new theatre productions specifically for Outburst, we can only accept ready-to-perform theatre productions through this open call. Join us on social media to keep informed of opportunities for development throughout the year. Or you can give us a shout on hello@outburstarts.com if you are a professional company or writer interested in developing a more ambitious production. Though please be aware that most development support we offer is for local artists because we are biased in a good way.
*lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex
HOW WE PROGRAMME Basically we programme work that makes us excited and that we think will make audiences excited too. We aim to balance the programme across all genres, platforms, age groups and tastes, with an emphasis on quality, whether it’s high-art or rough n’ ready DIY. From avant-garde theatre performance to interactive kids’ entertainment, we try to have something in there for everyone. We also want to create opportunities for us to learn from each other through OUTBURST, so we always like to hear from groups and artists who can provide engaging workshops or interactive elements as part of their submissions. We love work in new and unexpected places and spaces. And we REALLY love to hear from groups and organisations who would like their LGBTQI work supported through an Outburst partnership event. We particularly welcome work that shows an understanding of Northern Irish queer experiences in all their complexity and diversity.
Here’s how to submit ideas. Please email the following information to submissions@outburstarts.com or pop it in the post to SUBMISSIONS 2015, OUTBURST, 1st Floor, 18-22 Hill Street, BELFAST BT1 2LA, Northern Ireland. The closing date is May 29th 2015. 1. Contact name, address, phone number, email address and Skype details (if available) 2. An outline of your proposed event in no more than 300 words. 3. A full budget breakdown of your proposed event costs, including info on any funding you have already secured or applied for yourself. Please include costings for (a) performance fees (b) accommodation, travel, transportation (c) tech (d) any other essential costs 4. Details of any productions, screenings or performances of your proposed event to date, including any reviews, audience feedback etc. Please let us know if you are planning other tour/performance/ screening dates before or around Outburst. 5. Additional support materials such as your website, social networks or other digital links. Any scripts, images, books, screeners or videos relating to your event are also very helpful to us in building up a full picture of your proposal. 6. Details of artists, performers, writers etc. involved in the event, including all relevant CVs. A group or company CV is fine where more appropriate. 7. A short paragraph on why your event is particularly relevant to LGBTQ people and our wider audiences in Northern Ireland. If you don’t have or know some of these things, that’s okay, please just send us what you can. All programming is subject to funding. It’s not always possible to enter into detailed discussions about each submission but we will do our best to answer any queries. Have a look at the FAQs before getting in touch. Because of the large volume of submissions we now get for Outburst and the fact that we’re a small festival team, we will generally only get in touch or enter into discussions if your work is the right fit for this year’s programme. Sorry about that. We’d love to include so much more that we get offered but, if it isn’t a fit this time, we’re happy to look at your idea again. We are also happy to offer feedback on proposals at your request but please be patient and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. For news and updates, join us on
Outburst Arts
@OutburstArts
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q: What kind of financial support can Outburst offer for my event? A: Outburst can cover artist/performance fee, travel and accommodation costs, venue hire, marketing, tech costs and other essential event costs as needed. Unfortunately we can’t offer development or rehearsal costs unless the work is being co-produced or developed by Outburst. Q: How many performances/shows should I budget for? A: Generally we programme one perfomance of a full show, ocassionally two for theatre shows. Q: I’m doing a funding application for this work. Can I get a letter of support from you for my funder or say that the event is going to be in the festival to give me a better shot? A: We get asked this a lot! Unfortunately we can only offer letters of support for work we have formally agreed to co-produce or have provisionally programmed. Or for some local work in development. Sorry about that. We ask that you do not use guaranteed Outburst participation as leverage in funding or sponsorship unless clearly discussed and agreed with us. Q: I am a new artist and haven’t produced something before. Can I still send you an idea? A. Of course you can. If you don’t have much experience, it might be good to get some support to develop your work before submitting an idea though. Outburst runs a community performance group and there are other great initiatives such as Sole Purpose Productions’ LGBT Theatre Labs for new queer writing and performance development that could really give you a leg up. We really encourage ambition but it’s good to be realistic about what you may be able achieve right away. We are also open to the idea that you could create something that blows our minds. Q: Can I send you a script? A: While we love to read new work, we generally don’t have the resources to develop and produce new work from script stage. So, instead of sending us a script for the Open Call, drop us a line if you would like to talk about the possibility of developing something in partnership with Outburst. Q: When will I hear about whether or not my proposal is shortlisted? A: While we try our best to get back to everyone, we’re a small team and receieve hundreds of proposals, so we can’t guarantee we’ll get the chance to chat to you about your work unless it’s shortlisted. We will send you a confirmation though once we have recieved your submission, so if you don’t hear from us at all please get in touch. If shortlisted, you should hear from us by July. Q: We are a community organisation/ non-LGBTQI group/ youth group/ agency that would love to do something in Outburst but not quite sure what. Can you help? A: Yep. We love to create new partnerships with groups that help to raise awareness of queer issues and lives through really great arts events. We do lots of “matchmaking” between organisations and artists or events that can help raise the profile of your work or bring Outburst to your area or group. Drop us a line at hello@outburstarts.com Q: I don’t have a creative bone in my body. Can I get involved in Outburst in other ways. A: We don’t believe that but, yep, you can. We depend a lot on our fab volunteers during the festival and on specialist skilled volunteers to help with specific work throughout the year. Say hello! Outburst is funded by several different agencies and sponsors throughout the year, including The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (Primary funder) , Belfast City Council, the Department for Social Development, Public Health Agency, The Funding Network and others.