Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival
Where the Art World and Real World Intersect
The Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival is a performing arts festival that presents work that impacts our society, culture, and world by informing, inspiring, educating, and entertaining. INTERSECTIONS is about presenting excellent art that inspires a connected community, engages artists and audiences alike, and creates a vibrant neighborhood, city, and world. We are interested in unique perspectives and art that connect us to the many facets of our humanity. The Atlas Intersections Festival presents artists that look to explore the ideas and issues of our time through their work.
Apply for the 2026 Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival
Intersections FAQ
- What is the intersections festival?
- The Atlas Intersections Festival is a performing arts festival in Washington, DC that celebrates its 17th year of presenting artists that look to explore the ideas and issues of our time through their work.
- When is the festival?
- The festival will be held over 5 weekends with up to 4 shows per night. The festival runs from mid-February to mid-March.
- What does it cost to participate?
- Atlas covers the cost of the performance space, standard venue inventory, one tech rehearsal (length of rehearsal varies by space) and provides production support including a light board operator, sound board operator, and stagehand, along with house management, box office, and marketing support.
- Artists and companies cover all “in the door” expenses (all performer fees and producing costs) and a stage manager.
- Artists receive the proceeds from the box office less a percentage for the Atlas. The split of net box office sales is 50% Artist and 50% Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival.
- When is the application due?
- August 15, 2025 at 5pm
- What is required to apply?
- Submit the online form. Include a description of show, photos, video or sound files to show samples of your work.
- Are artists outside of the DC Area eligible to apply?
- While artists/companies outside of the DC metro area may apply, preference is given to DC metro area artists and DC based artists. All artists must be eligible to work in the U.S.
- How long does a performance need to be?
- All performances need to be 60 or 75 minutes in length. This run time DOES NOT INCLUDE the 15-minute post show talkbac.
- Do I have to do a post-show talkback/community engagement?
- Every Intersections performance needs to include a 15-minute talkback or another form of community engagement.
- Community engagement can include teaching the audience a dance movement that connects to the show, inviting the audience on the stage for a dance party, teaching a song, giving a take home art project, and/or post-performance audience feedback surveys.
- Do I need to bring tech people?
- Atlas will provide a Light Board Operator, Sound Board Operator, and a Stagehand. All artists are REQUIRED to bring a NON-PERFORMING stage manager to run your stage rehearsal and call the performance.
- Where are the performances held?
- The Atlas Performing Arts Center- 1333 H St NE, Washington, DC 20002
- Performances are held in our 4 performance spaces
- Lang Theatre- 258 fixed seats, traditional proscenium
- Sprenger Theatre- 164 seats on risers, black box proscenium
- Lab Theatre II- 82 seats on risers, black box proscenium
- Lab Theatre i- 63 seats on risers, black box proscenium
- Actual venue placement is at the discretion of Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival management.
- What if I decide to change the show?
- Festival artists are selected based on the performance described in the application, therefore no major changes will be accepted after you agree to peform in the festival.
- What if I have to pull out of the festival?
- While we understand life happens, Atlas is a nonprofit and will require a fee based on work done to market your performance as well as potential lost box office revenue.
- What does marketing look like?
- Performers are responsible for marketing their shows using the guidelines provided and outlined by Atlas’ Marketing Team. Atlas will market each individual show along with the other shows in the festival.
- Each genre (Story, movement, sound) will have email and social media blasts.
- Each weekend of performances (4-12) will get a special advertisement at the top of the week leading up to the show.
- Each performance will get one special social media post to instagram and facebook and a facebook event will be created by Atlas.
- Atlas will reshare posts about INTERSECTIONS Festival performances as appropriate. Including but not limited to rehearsal footage, costumes, marketing pushes, and behind the scenes photos and videos to promote the performances.
- When will we be notified?
- The adjudication and selection process will be conducted in August/September, and contracting will begin at the end of September/early October. This is subject to change.
- When will the festival artists be publicly announced?
- Atlas plans to publicly announce the 2026 Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival and put tickets on sale by December 1, 2025. This is subject to change.
- When will I be paid?
- All payments will come via bill.com within 30 days of your performance. You do not need to invoice or contact us to receive payment.