Twisted Holiday Festival
PlayGround’s 1st Annual TWISTED HOLIDAY FESTIVAL
November 27-December 20, 2026
Potrero Stage & Simulcast
Admission-Free (Suggested Donation $10-$30)
Applications are now being accepted for PlayGround’s 1st Annual Twisted Holiday Festival, a four-week fringe-style festival of new holiday-themed works. Pieces can engage with any winter-themed holiday! The deadline to submit is 11:59pm PT, July 31, 2026. Lottery selections will be announced on or before August 7, 2026. Registration fees for selected projects are due on or before August 15, 2026. For more information, see “Guidelines” below.
Guidelines
The Twisted Holiday Festival is a four-week non-curated fringe-style new works festival for holiday-themed performances, particularly those that offer twists or innovative alternatives to classic holiday fare.
– Selected teams/projects will receive three (3) performance slots over the course of the festival;
– Selections will be determined by lottery; up to 15 slots will be guaranteed to PlayGround-affiliated (Company Members, Playwright Alumni, Staff, Festival Alumni) artists and up to 5 slots will be offered to non-PlayGround artists;
– Projects must culminate in the off-book public presentation of a new work (not staged readings or readings of any kind);
– Performances in the Twisted Holiday Festival must run between 30-50 minutes with setup/strike of no more than a half-hour on either side;
– Each project will be scheduled one two-hour technical rehearsal;
– Projects must participate in PlayGround’s radical accessibility program, including free admission (with PWYC donation option) and online simulcast;
– Projects involving union artists will have the opportunity to be presented under PlayGround’s SAG-AFTRA New Media Agreement (deferred) and all performers, regardless of union status, would then be expected to sign a SAG-AFTRA agreement; projects are solely responsible for the terms of artist compensation and for fulfilling those terms;
– Upon selection, projects will be responsible for remitting to PlayGround a $600 facility licensing fee for three performances, due by August 15.
– PlayGround will provide the following: fully-equipped Potrero Stage, Technical Director, House Manager, Board Operator, Streaming Broadcaster, as well as co-marketing, production management consultation (1 hr), and box office services;
– PlayGround will split box office proceeds 50/50 with producing teams.
Questions? Contact Jim at jim@playground-sf.org.
Hear From Past Festival Particpants:
“PlayGround’s Free-Play Festival was a fabulous opportunity to get our reps in – as a new company and first time producer, I was thrilled to be able to breathe life into a play that was sitting on the shelf! With technical support and plenty of rehearsal time at the Potrero Stage, I would highly recommend developing works at the Free-Play Festival.”
– Ipsheeta Furtado (Free-Play, 2023)
“Free-Play is basically that opportunity you wait for as an artist, the chance to do the thing you’ve been dreaming about but haven’t had the resources or space for. For me it’s been the place to really push my boundaries and experiment in a low-stakes environment. Creating my solo performance was something I’d wanted to do for years, and Free-Play was the push I needed to get out of my comfort zone and just do the darn thing.”
– Lana Richards (Free-Play, 2023)
“Free-Play Festival was an opportunity for me to see my first full length play fully produced–not a workshop, not a reading, but talented memorized actors performing my play with props, lighting, and sound. It was such a magical, healing experience sitting with audiences and listening to them laugh, cry, and relate to my writing.”
– Kaz Valtchev (Free-Play, 2024)