About the festival

WHAT IS THE REIEFESTIVAL?

The Reiefestival is a triennial multidisciplinary arts festival in Bruges that connects heritage and contemporary performing arts. Based on the conviction that heritage only remains alive when it is constantly re-examined, the festival invites artists to approach historical and intangible sources in Bruges in a contemporary and innovative way.

For three days, open-air locations on and around Bruges’ canals are transformed into stages for theatre, dance, music, performances and installations. Each edition has a central theme that guides the artistic choices and deepens the dialogue between past and present. The second edition will take place from 4 to 6 September 2026 and will focus on Flow: everything that moves, changes and connects.

OPEN CALL

The Reiefestival focuses, among other things, on new stage creations that are selected through an open call. For each edition, we launch an open call aimed at professional artists and creators who are active in stage-related disciplines such as theatre, performance, dance, music, sound art or spoken word.

Creators can draw inspiration from a thematic inspiration text compiled by Bruges heritage organisations. Bruges’ tangible and intangible heritage is an important and versatile source of inspiration. The theme of the second edition is “Flow”.

The Reiefestival offers opportunities to both emerging and established talent, individually or collectively. The selected projects will result in a stage-related performance that can be performed outdoors, at locations near or on the Bruges canals.

The open call for the second edition of the Reiefestival in September has now been completed. The programme will be announced in the spring of 2026.

The proposals submitted for the previous edition of the open call were assessed by a professional jury consisting of:

  • Alan Quireyns, artistic coordinator, Brugge Plus
  • Alexander Jocqué, artistic director, Concertgebouw Brugge
  • Els Degryse, project manager, Reiefestival (Brugge Plus)
  • Peter Grymonprez, project manager, Reiefestival (Brugge Plus)
  • Lauranne Cleenwerck, programmer, Cultuurcentrum Brugge
  • Merel Vercoutere, artistic coordinator, KAAP
  • Dominique Collet, programming, Theater aan Zee Oostende

WHO IS INVOLVED?

The Reiefestival is an initiative of the City of Bruges, organised by Brugge Plus, in collaboration with Arts Centre KAAP, Concertgebouw Brugge and Cultuurcentrum Brugge.

ORGANISOR BRUGGE PLUS

Brugge Plus is the organiser of the Reiefestival. The non-profit organisation grew out of the non-profit organisation Bruges 2002, Cultural Capital of Europe and brings culture to all residents and visitors on behalf of the city of Bruges, in a hospitable atmosphere and with an eye for sustainability. In this way, we help strengthen the city’s positive image as a contemporary, inclusive and dynamic city of culture.

The activities of Brugge Plus are mono or multidisciplinary and take place in public spaces. The organisation of the activities is always based on the core values of quality, participation and sustainability. We organise social and cultural events and projects at (inter)national, regional and local level.

Events range from music, circus to contemporary arts. Cirque Plus, Feest in ‘t Park, Uitwijken, Film op het Strand, Lichtfeest Lissewege, Iedereen Klassiek, Krikrak, Wintergloed, Gouden Boomstoet and Triënnale Brugge adorn our calendar.

TEAM

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Follow the link below to order tickets for one or more Reiefestival performances.

While booking, please check that you have chosen the correct performance, day and/or timeslots.

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