Summerworks

About Summerworks

SummerWorks’ mission is to expand the possibilities of performance. 

Our activities are anchored by the SummerWorks Performance Festival, every August, in communities across Toronto. Now entering its 35th year, SummerWorks is widely-regarded as Canada’s premier curated Festival of independent live performance. We are at the forefront of contemporary performance, and dedicated to cultivating new ideas and artistic directions – how performance is created, presented, and experienced. We are fierce in our commitment to providing a platform for independent artists and small companies/collectives. This is where our work registers the most tangible impact, and this attention to an ‘intimate scale’ characterizes our unique role within the arts ecosystem in Toronto, and increasingly within national and international arts ecologies.

We work with creatively-adventurous artists and organizations to make a lasting impact, seeking to connect diverse communities to each other. We prioritize diversity in lived experience, removing barriers and increasing access for artists and audiences. We ensure that creative work asks urgent and complex questions reflecting emergent/current issues. We are committed to cultivating practices that foster greater diversity, accessibility, equity, and sustainability across the arts sector.

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