The Festival of Regions invites artists, cultural initiatives and people with cultural, social, ecological and political commitment to once again not go with the flow.

The deadline for submitting project ideas is April 30, 2026.

The next Festival of the Regions will take place from June 11th to 20th, 2027 on the Danube, upstream from Linz, in Upper Austria, with the main focus on Aschach an der Donau as the festival center.

Under the theme “Diving Deeper”, we explore the Danube and the water.

The Danube is the river that flows through most of the world's countries. But what does the Danube mean locally, and beyond? We're looking for new perspectives and connections.

Submission guidelines & special  selection criteria

We are seeking artistic projects, interventions, and original and unconventional ideas that engage with the Danube region from Linz upstream – with Aschach an der Donau as the festival center. We are looking for:

• Projects that understand the Danube not only as a landscape, stage, resource or transport route, but as a living actor that shapes habitats and is simultaneously formed by human and non-human relationships.

• Works that establish new relationships with the river, open up new perspectives, and connect local perspectives with supra-regional or international viewpoints.

• Projects that involve local people and bring together initiatives and actors from art, science, administration, activism, associations or the neighborhood.

• Experimental, interdisciplinary artistic approaches

• Unusual approaches to mediation

• Projects that will be particularly present and tangible in the main location of Aschach an der Donau as the festival center

A festival by people for people

If you see your work as a relevant contribution to the themes of the Festival of Regions, we would be delighted to receive your submission. We strive to read every submission carefully. Please submit a project that you have developed yourself and that you consider a meaningful contribution to the Festival of Regions' theme, "Diving Deeper," and to the Danube region (upstream from Linz). The Festival of Regions is a community-oriented arts and culture festival. We create shared spaces to explore social, cultural, and artistic issues together – in exchange with a region, its stakeholders, and international guests.

Submissions are read and discussed by people – specifically, by a small, dedicated team. We are increasingly seeing calls for proposals flooded with a large amount of automatically generated content. We, too, have limited time and human resources and cannot process a mass of submissions indefinitely.

The Festival of Regions is explicitly interested in new forms of work. 
At the same time, however, we do not want to receive project proposals that are largely or entirely AI-generated.

Experience shows that automatically generated texts often sound good and are formatted, but remain vague in content. We would prefer to invest this time in interpersonal dialogue – for example, with original ideas.

We invite you to critically examine AI as a tool. For submissions: sketches, unfinished thoughts, experimental approaches, and even linguistic imprecision are expressly welcome. We prefer these to polished texts where authorship or the creative process remains unclear.

Project selection

The selection of projects is made by a four-member program board, which bears curatorial responsibility for the festival program and is newly appointed for each festival edition. Members of the program board for the 2027 edition are: Simone Barlian, Fina Esslinger, Elke Krasny, and Adriana Torres Topaga. 

Selection is made without regard to gender, nationality, ethnic or social origin, religion or belief, age, disability, or sexual identity or orientation.

Project selection will take place in a multi-stage process until the end of June 2026.
The selected projects will be presented in autumn 2026.

The program board will consider the following criteria in particular when selecting projects:

• the artistic quality and originality of the idea

• the substantive engagement with the festival theme

• the connection to the region and the specific location

• the potential for public and local stakeholder participation

• the feasibility within the given time and organizational framework

The Festival of Regions welcomes projects that are diverse, accessible, and inclusive.

We value sustainable production methods and the responsible use of resources. (The Festival of Regions is a Green Event)

Participation in the festival process

Active participation in the festival process is expected from the selected projects:

• Participation in the kick-off meeting (September 2026)

• Participation in press and presentation events

• Personal attendance during the festival (June 11–20, 2027)

Components of the project submissions

Project proposals must include the following information:

• Contact details of the contact person

• Brief description of the project (max. 700 characters)

• Relevance to the festival theme (max. 700 characters)

• Project description (max. 7 pages, 20 MB)

• Project subject (photo, graphic or visualization including photo credits)

• Planned location for implementation or spatial requirements (max. 700 characters)

• Short biographies of the individuals involved and their previous artistic or cultural activities (max. 1500 characters)

• Timeline for development and implementation (max. 1000 characters)

• Financial plan / calculation (enclosure)

Submission deadline:  April 30, 2026, 11:59 PM

Submissions are accepted in German or English exclusively via the online form. Once submitted, project proposals cannot be edited or resubmitted.
A confirmation of receipt will be sent automatically by email. If you do not receive a confirmation, please contact  opencall@fdr.at .
Late or incomplete submissions cannot be considered. All applicants will be notified of the results by email by the end of June 2026.