&Fest: Learning to Disagree presents an exceptionally wide range of top-level theatre performances from around the world – Brazil, Palestine, Poland, Italy, Lithuania, and Canada.
The previous &Fest was held in spring 2024, with the theme being the Belgian city of Ghent. Now the theme is disagreement. Running throughout March 2026, &Fest: Learning to Disagree celebrates democracy, creates a safe space for disagreement, and encourages understanding of unfamiliar perspectives. At the heart of the program are seven top international performances that are sure to spark discussion.
“The theme of the festival arose from the need to address polarization and, on the other hand, the consensus-seeking nature of Finnish culture—we Finns are not very good at debating. That is why we wanted to create a space where disagreement and argumentation can be practiced, as these are at the core of democracy. We are bringing these into the theatre festival. Disagreement can be brought into art debate in a way that is not only fun and carnivalesque, but also profound," says Jussi Sorjanen, artistic director of &.
The audience will be treated to two of the most important names in theatre today: Łukasz Twarkowski's The Employees and Cadela Força Trilogy, Chapter I: The Bride and The Goodnight Cinderella by Carolina BIanchi, who recently won the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale.
The program also includes a co-production by the Lithuanian National Theatre and Espoo Theatre, Anna Smolar's The Birds, as well as YES DADDY حاضر يا أبي by the Palestinian Khashabi Theatre, and Zona Franca by Brazilian Alice Ripoll.
In the future, &Fest will be held every two years with changing themes.
&Fest: Learning to Disagree. March 5–29, 2026.
Łukasz Twarkowski: The Employees. &Louhi March 5–7
Batisfera: The Gummy Bears’ Great War. &Revontuli March 10–11
Anna Smolar: The Birds. &Louhi March 12–14
Carolina Bianchi: Cadela Força, Chapter I: The Bride and The Goodnight Cinderella. Dance House Helsinki March 18
Khashabi Theatre: YES DADDY حاضر يا أبي. &Revontuli March 19–21
Alice Ripoll: Zona Franca. &Louhi March 25–27
Patrick Blenkarn & Milton Lim: asses.masses. &Revontuli March 28–29
Other programme will be announced in November.
The visiting perfomances are supported by Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation and Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
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