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Festivals
Immersive | Collaborative | Life-changing
An ISTA festival is a transformative creative experience where young people collaborate, create, and explore global perspectives through the arts. Rooted in story-based inquiry, our festivals ignite imagination and artistic risk-taking, guided by professional artists.
Alongside our signature festivals, ISTA also offers a range of specialist festival experiences that provide immersive learning at historical and cultural sites or foster community-driven storytelling with a social impact focus.
What is an ISTA Festival?
Our signature ISTA festivals are three-day immersive theatre experiences where students:
Work in small ensembles and as a whole group to create original theatre.
Explore a local story chosen in collaboration with the host school, using it as a lens for artistic discovery.
Connection: The arts connect us to ourselves, our histories, and our communities—enriching lives and deepening relationships.
Develop confidence, creativity, and collaborative skills in a supportive, non-competitive environment.
ISTA festivals celebrate storytelling, ensuring every student’s voice is heard and valued.
ISTA FESTIVAL PACK
ISTA Ensemble Method
At the heart of every festival is the ISTA Ensemble Method—our signature, non-competitive approach to theatre-making that empowers students to co-create, explore global themes, and express their understanding of the world. Rooted in inquiry, storytelling, and cultural connection, it fosters creativity, empathy, and community—core to ISTA’s mission.
Understanding the ISTA Ensemble method
These four core elements shape every festival journey, guiding students from personal discovery to collaborative creation and meaningful artistic expression.
Identity
Ensemble
Story
Sharing
The ISTA Ensemble Method
What makes the ISTA Ensemble Method distinct is its emphasis on process over product, encouraging play, risk-taking, and reflection in a safe, supportive space. Facilitators act as guides rather than directors, empowering students to take ownership of their creative journey.
As young artists collaborate across cultures, they develop not only original work but also a deeper understanding of themselves and others—building the intercultural awareness and global citizenship at the heart of ISTA’s mission.
ISTA ENSEMBLE METHOD PACK
Why attend an ISTA Festival?
ISTA festivals offer an unparalleled opportunity for young people to:
Work in small ensembles and as a whole group to create original theatre.
Explore a local story chosen in collaboration with the host school, using it as a lens for artistic discovery.
Connection: The arts connect us to ourselves, our histories, and our communities—enriching lives and deepening relationships.
Work in small ensembles and as a whole group to create original theatre.
Explore a local story chosen in collaboration with the host school, using it as a lens for artistic discovery.
Connection: The arts connect us to ourselves, our histories, and our communities—enriching lives and deepening relationships.
Other Festival Experiences
Beyond our signature festivals, ISTA offers diverse festival models that deepen cultural connection, creative exploration, and global engagement.
Through these various festival models, young artists experiment, innovate, and build empathy, perspective, and critical thinking.
Feature Festivals
Focus Festivals
Bespoke Festivals
Learn more about our mission
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This festival was very close to perfection, absolutely outstanding. Seeing our students rise to the challenge and fall in love with theatre-making was special. The number of students who come out of this festival excited about IB Theatre and asking how they could pursue it... just phenomenal
Carlucci American International School of Lisbon, Portugal
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