Participation

...and taking advantage of the IKF as an international culture platform to give your artistic projects even more momentum!

The IKF offers ideal conditions for this - here you will find out everything you need to know about showcases. We will open the online application tool in the course of April.

1. What is a showcase?

2. What are the conditions?

3. How can I apply? And then what?

4. Application materials

5. What is the technical framework?

6. What is the procedure for the showcase?
 

A showcase - is a live performance with a maximum length of 20 minutes or 30 minutes for bands at one of the available venues/stages.

The aim is to give the audience of industry professionals as thorough an impression as possible of your current production, to pique the curiosity of the event promoters and convince them of the merits of your artistic work.

Note on walk acts: Artists/groups in this category can present their walk act production at set times (usually up to 2 times a day) in the foyer and the central foyer. The stages are not available for these performances. All of the other regulations are the same.

The showcase is subject to a fee for the artists and ensembles.

The performance fee is the same as in 2025: 

• Performing arts and theater in public spaces is € 450 plus VAT
• In the field of music for solo artists and duos also € 450 and for bands of three or more people € 500 plus VAT.

The performance fee is only payable once an artist or ensemble has been selected for a showcase and their participation has been confirmed.

The artist or ensemble will be featured in IKF print products and on the homepage.

Furthermore, participation with a showcase obliges the exhibitor to book a stand: the artists and ensembles must be represented in the exhibitor hall throughout the entire trade fair with their own stand or the stand of an agency.

The exhibition stand must be booked separately immediately (at the latest) after the showcase has been confirmed. Here you will find further information on stand booking.

Artists and ensembles who have confirmed their participation with a showcase undertake to guarantee their availability on all days of the Kulturbörse at least until the exact performance times have been announced.

Cancellation until:

31.10.2025: 50% of the performance fees

30.11.2025: 75% of the performance fees

For cancellations from

01.12.2025: 100% of the performance fees

All artists and ensembles from the fields of performing arts, music and theater in public spaces (performances & walk acts) are eligible to apply. In order to apply, a public performance and the premiere of the submitted production must have taken place before the application deadline.

There must be at least three years between two IKF appearances. Applications must be submitted online using the application form on the IKF website.

Deadlines:

• Performing arts and music until June 6, 2025,
• Theater in public space (performances & walk acts) until September 12, 2025

After the deadline for applications, selection committees in each genre hold a session to select the artist and ensembles – including a waiting list – for the forthcoming IKF. The members of the selection committee are industry professionals (event promoters, artists, media representatives, etc.) and change each year. The decisions of the selection committees are binding. Legal recourse is excluded.

The artist and ensembles will be notified once a decision has been reached (artists and ensembles in the fields of performing arts and music by the end of August, applicants in the field of theater in public spaces by mid-October of each year). Artists an ensembles who receive a place on the waiting list will be informed at short notice as soon as an opportunity for a short performance arises.

Productions with queer, sexist, anti-Semitic, racist and inhuman or other discriminatory content will be excluded.

You can provide all of the necessary information for your application in the online application form, including video links and promotional material. It is generally not necessary to send any other documents.
If you do not have all of the documents in digital form, you can also send them to us by post. You will receive the mailing address together with confirmation of receipt after completing your online application.

Important! Notes on video material:

The videos are the most important material for applications when selecting showcases. Please make absolutely sure that images and sound are available at all times and in good quality. Videos of a live performance are the most informative for the jury. Please only use YouTube and Vimeo links. No Dropbox or WeTransfer links

Applications in the field of performing arts or theater in public spaces require coherent video sequences depicting entire scenes. Edited trailers and interviews are not very relevant for the panel of judges.

For applications in the field of music, please send only video excerpts with the line-up with which you are applying for the IKF Please use recordings that are at best no more than two years old.

Several professionally equipped stages are available in the exhibition halls during the IKF. 

The productions submitted must be able to be realised on the available stages. 

If the technical requirements exceed the existing stage equipment, this can be extended if necessary. The costs of these extensions shall be borne by the artists and ensembles. This also includes the costs for backline, which is not provided by FWTM as standard. If technical requirements cannot be met, the organiser, Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co. KG (FWTM) reserves the right to bar artists/ensembles from taking part, even if they have already been selected.

Walkabout acts can move around in the foyer and the entrance hall – not in the exhibition halls! – at set times. No technical equipment is provided here. The final decision on whether a production is defined as a walk act (foyer, entrance hall) or as a street theatre performance rests with the FWTM.

All of the artists/ensembles receive ONE performance slot during the IKF (exception: walk acts).
Stage allocation, duration of the showcases (max. 20 min. or 30 min. for bands) and the running order of the short performances will be determined by the FWTM, in consultation with the technical staff. Special wishes regarding the performance day, the performance time or the performance venue cannot be considered.
Important: There are no normal soundcheck times at the IKF. The soundcheck time is generally 10 minutes. Any requests in this regard must be discussed with and approved by the technical staff prior to the IKF.