Within the framework of its Call for Festivals, Halaqat provides financial support, gender-focused mentoring, knowledge exchange and networking opportunities to independent festivals taking place between November 2025 and November 2026 in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Morocco. The initiative is aimed at festival organisers interested in engaging in public discussions on the topic of gender and care and experimenting with practices of care.
The purpose of the Call for Festivals is to support the development and execution of independent festivals that seek to:
- experiment with practices of care, including but not limited; to management practices, gender-inclusive spaces, cultural programming, and audience engagement,
- catalyse conversations around gender and care, encouraging the exploration of creative strategies to ensure that festivals are safer, and equally accessible and welcoming to all individuals,
- showcase artistic work that addresses gender topics.
A total of eight grants will be awarded, with approximately two festivals per country (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Morocco). The funding is paired with support to fine-tune the ‘Festival Care Plan’ of the selected festivals through mentoring, knowledge exchange, and networking opportunities (including an online kick-off workshop for the festivals).
Grant is 9,800 EUR per festival and costs can include organisational costs and programming costs (including artists fees, production fees, dissemination and outreach, transportation, travel costs and accommodation for artists).
