Thank you for your interest in attending...
...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.
1. What is a showcase?
A showcase is a live performance at one of the available venues or stages. The showcases will take place on Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 January 2027.
The aim is to give the professional audience as comprehensive an impression as possible of your current production during this time, to arouse the organisers’ curiosity and to convince them of your artistic work.
The duration of the showcases is 15 minutes. Bands of three or more people can play for 25 minutes on the music stage. It is not possible to change the showcase time once the contract has been signed.
NEWCOMER
By ‘newcomer’, we mean an artist or a group who do not yet have a solo programme, or who are presenting their first solo programme to the public. Musicians should not have released more than five of their own songs. Furthermore, the artists must not have performed at the IKF before in their respective genre.
The newcomers will perform on Monday on stage K 6-9 (or in the central foyer if necessary) for an audience of industry professionals, with a performance duration of 5 minutes.
The aim is to pique the organisers’ curiosity and convince them of your artistic talent.
Note on walk acts: Artists and ensembles in this category may move around the exhibition hall with their walk act production and perform once a day for 45 minutes in a parade through the central foyer and the longitudinal foyer.
There are no plans for a performance on the existing stages.
All other regulations apply in the same way.
2. What are the conditions?
The performance fee is only payable once an artist or ensemble has been selected for a showcase and has confirmed their participation in a binding manner.
The artists or ensembles will be listed in IKF publications and featured on the website.
Furthermore, participation in a showcase requires the booking of an exhibition stand: artists and ensembles must be represented in the exhibition hall for the duration of the fair, either with their own stand or via an agency stand.
The exhibition stand must be booked separately immediately (at the latest) upon confirmation of the showcase. You can find further information on stand booking on our website.
Artists and ensembles who have confirmed their participation with a showcase undertake to guarantee their availability to the Kulturbörse on 26 and 27 January 2027, at least until the exact performance times are announced. Artists and ensembles who have confirmed their participation with a showcase undertake to guarantee their availability to the Kulturbörse on 26 and 27 January 2027, at least until the exact performance times are announced.
NEWCOMER
There is a fee for performing. The fee of €230 is only payable once an artist or ensemble has been selected to perform and has confirmed their participation in writing. In addition to the performance, the price also includes a stand (1 x 2 metre Octanorm wall).
Participation with a performance obliges artists and ensembles to be present in the exhibition hall for the duration of the fair so that trade visitors can engage with them on site.
The artists and ensembles will be listed in the IKF’s printed materials and featured on the website.
If an artist, ensemble or agency cancels a showcase that has already been confirmed, a cancellation fee will be payable.
If a showcase that has already been confirmed is cancelled by the artist, the ensemble or the agency, a cancellation fee will be payable.
In the event of cancellation by:
31 October 2026: 50% of the performance fees
30 November 2026: 75% of the performance fees
In the event of cancellation on or after
1 December 2026: 100% of the performance fee
If, in the event of a cancellation, FWTM succeeds in finding a replacement from the waiting list whom it would not have been able to book for any other available performance slot, it shall retain a flat-rate reimbursement of expenses amounting to 25% of the participation fee from the artist or agency that has withdrawn from the contract. The FWTM’s right to claim further reimbursement of expenses remains unaffected. The artist or agency may request a reduction in the flat-rate reimbursement of expenses if they can prove that the FWTM incurred only minor expenses.
3. How can I apply? And then what?
In principle, all artists and ensembles working in the fields of performing arts, music and street theatre (performances & walk acts) are eligible to apply. To be eligible, a public performance and the premiere of the submitted production must have taken place before the application deadline.
There must be a gap of at least three years between two IKF performances by the same artist. If the artist is also active in other groups, they may reapply after a shorter period. The same applies if the genre or programme has changed significantly.
Applications must be submitted online via the application form on the IKF website. The deadline for the Performing Arts and Music categories is 15 June 2026, and for Theatre in Public Spaces (Performances & Walk Acts) it is 14 September 2026.
Following the closing date for applications, selection panels for each genre will meet to select the artists and ensembles – including those on the waiting list – for the upcoming IKF. The members of the selection panels are industry professionals (event organisers, artists, media representatives, etc.) and are replaced annually. The decisions of the selection panels are final. No appeal lies with the courts.
Artists and ensembles will then be notified (artists and ensembles from the performing arts and music sectors by around the end of July, and applicants from the public space theatre sector by around mid-October of the respective year). Artists and ensembles who are offered a place via the waiting list will be notified at short notice as soon as an opportunity for a showcase arises.
Productions containing queerphobic, sexist, anti-Semitic, racist, inhuman or other discriminatory content will be excluded.
4. Application materials
The online application form allows you to provide all the necessary information for your application, including video links and promotional material. It is not usually necessary to send any further documents.
Important! Notes on the video footage:
The videos are the most important materials for applications in the selection process for the showcases. Please ensure that the picture and sound are of good quality at all times. Videos of a live performance are the most meaningful for the jury.
Please use only YouTube and Vimeo links. No Dropbox or WeTransfer links.
For applications in the field of performing arts or theatre in public spaces, continuous video sequences depicting complete scenes are required. Edited trailers and interviews are of little value to the jury.
When applying for the Music category, please send only video clips featuring the line-up with which you are applying for the IKF. Please use recordings that are, ideally, no more than two years old.
5. What is the technical framework?
During the IKF, several professionally equipped stages will be available in the exhibition halls.
Submitted productions must be feasible on the available stages.
Available backline:
- a fully equipped drum kit
- a grand piano
- a guitar amp
- two bass amps
If the technical requirements exceed the capacity of the existing stage facilities, these may be upgraded if necessary. The costs of these upgrades are borne by the artists and ensembles. This also includes the costs for backline equipment, which is not provided as standard by FWTM. If technical requirements cannot be met, Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co. KG (FWTM) reserves the right to exclude even previously selected artists and ensembles from participation.
Walk acts may move around the foyer and central foyer at specified times as part of a parade and on a continuous basis in the exhibition hall. No technical equipment is provided here. The final decision as to whether a production is defined as a walk act (foyer, central foyer) or as a performance rests with FWTM.
6. What is the procedure for a showcase?
All selected artists and ensembles will be allocated ONE performance slot during the IKF (with the exception of walk acts).
The allocation of stages for the showcase and the order of performances will be determined by the FWTM, in consultation with the technical team. Requests regarding the day, time or venue of the performance cannot be accommodated.
Important: At IKF, there are no standard soundcheck times. Soundchecks usually last 10 minutes (15 minutes for bands) during the set-up slots before your own showcase slot. In addition, each showcase is allocated 10 minutes for set-up and changeover immediately before the performance. However, this does not count as a soundcheck!
NEWCOMER
All selected artists and ensembles will be allocated ONE performance slot on Monday, 25 January 2027.
The stage allocation and running order for the performances will be determined by the FWTM, in consultation with the technical team.