The last – 29th edition of the festival confirmed its strong international character. The programme featured 13 productions presented across 20 performances, including works from Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Ukraine, and Romania. The festival showcased performances addressing key contemporary themes such as power, memory, identity, and social and family relations. One of the most powerful highlights of the programme was the award-winning production “Ophelia’s Got Talent” from Berlin’s Volksbühne – an example of radical, innovative European theatre. A special guest of the festival was also John Malkovich, who, together with Ingeborga Dapkunaite, performed in “The Loneliness of the Cotton Fields”, directed by Timofey Kulyabin, giving the event exceptional artistic and media significance.

Kontakt is not only a showcase of stage performances, but also an extensive platform for dialogue and networking. The festival included 9 accompanying events: concerts, film screenings with directors’ talks, and curatorial tours, as well as the debate “Business Supports Culture – Culture Supports Business”, activities within the Ukrainian Day programme, 13 post-performance meetings with artists, and 10 masterclasses for theatre and directing students. In this way, the festival actively connects artistic, academic, business communities, and audiences.

The scale of the event is reflected in the numbers: 6,192 participants attended all festival events, including 5,492 theatre-goers. Festival communications reached over 2.5 million recipients, while social media activities generated approximately 550,000 organic reach. Additionally, there were over 300 media publications, and the number of festival guests – artists, curators, critics, and media representatives – reached around 500 people. Attendance remained close to 100% of available seats.

An important element of the festival’s identity remains accessibility. Performances were translated into Polish and English, presented with subtitles, audio description, audio introductions, and induction loop systems, making the event accessible to the widest and most diverse audience possible.

The strong position of the festival is also based on an extensive network of partnerships. The main partner of the event is the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship, and the festival is co-financed by the City of Toruń and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage under the Cultural Promotion Fund. Programmatic and institutional partners include the National Centre for Culture, Romanian Cultural Institute, Kujawsko-Pomorskie Tourism Organisation, Jordanki Cultural and Congress Centre, Art Connections Foundation, Wejściówka Club Café, and ZASP. Media patrons include TOK FM, Polityka, TVP3 Bydgoszcz, TVP Info, and major industry portals. Within the “Culture and Business” programme, the festival also cooperates with 30 companies and enterprises from the region.

During the last edition, 8 awards were presented, including the Grand Prize for “Ophelia’s Got Talent”, the Mayor’s Award for Ivan Uryvskyi for “Caligula”, as well as acting awards for Karina Krzywicka and Maciej Stuhr.

Jury of the 30th International Theatre Festival Kontakt:

• Johanna Freundlich, Artistic Director of Helsinki Festival (Finland)
• Artur Ghukasyan, President of HIGH FEST International Performing Arts Festival (Armenia)
• Savas Patsalidis, Professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Editor-in-Chief of Critical Stage

Awards 2026:

• Grand Prize of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship, Piotr Całbecki, for the best festival performance
• Prize for the most interesting festival personality – Award of the Mayor of Toruń, Paweł Gulewski
• Award for Best Actress and Best Actor
• Two jury awards (for the most interesting discoveries/festival events or creators)
• Zdzisław Maklakiewicz Award funded by ZASP for the best supporting acting performance