Festival Stories

Our 2ND ANNUAL HOLIDAY GUIDE FOR FESTIVAL FANS

Can you believe it's already the holiday season? It feels like just yesterday we were all gathered on the New Haven Green, rocking out to the awesome tunes of Stout or dancing along to the smooth...

The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for Festival Fans

Do you have a special friend or family member that seems to be impossible to buy for?  We've all been there.  Whether it is your best friend, your mother-in-law or your boyfriend's sister's...

The LIT Kwanzaa Celebration

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ELM CITY LIT FEST​​​​​​In accordance with Mayor Elicker’s December 26 health and safety guidelines suspending in-person events to prevent the spread of COVID, the Festival and Elm...

A Poem by Andres Camilo Madariaga

When we sent out an open call to have workers submit a picture of themselves, we also asked them what essential work meant to them. Here, Andres Camilo Madariaga, restaurant worker & volunteer at the...

Building the Stage: An Interview with a Stagehand

An interview with Jim Shea, Business Agent for IATSE LOCAL 74 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees  As the steel skeleton of the Festival’s iconic stage rose on the Green this...

Where to Get your Copy of Joy Harjo's AN AMERICAN SUNRISE for the NEA BIG READ

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas invites you to join us as we celebrate US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo's An American Sunrise, the Festival’s choice for the 2021 NEA Big Read. Harjo’s poems sing...

Five Poems by US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo

The poems of US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo sing of beauty and survival, illuminating a spirituality that connects her to her ancestors and thrums with the quiet anger of living amid the ruins of...

Imagine with the Festival May 14 - June 27, 2021

Festival 2021 will feature 200+ events—80% free—with luminaries like choreographer Ronald K. Brown, Indigenous theater director Madeline Sayet, and a high drama, high fashion Hair Art show.

Interview with Artistic Director & Choreographer Ronald K. Brown

Get to know dancer and choreographer Ronald K. Brown and EVIDENCE: A Dance Company, which mixes traditional African dances with contemporary music and staging.

New Year's Resolutions: Looking forward with Shelley Quiala

Executive Director Shelley Quiala sets intentions her for the new year,

Looking Back at 2020 with the Festival

2020 has been one of the most challenging of our lifetimes, but in a year of great challenge, we found great creativity. Here are some favorite Festival moments.

Welcoming our New Director of Programming

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas welcomes Malakhi Eason as its new Director of Programming and Community Impact, following an international search guided by Arts Consulting Group.

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