The Zero Point Festival is changing its form

After a gap year, the Zero Point Festival is coming up with some big changes. A new concept of the festival, divided into three parts, which will take place gradually from September to November. Its goal is to gradually create a platform that aims to encourage young audiences’ interest in contemporary independent performance art.

The first step will be the realization of the school part of the festival Zero Point in School, which will transform the area of the selected high school into a festival centre. The school will become the venue for many artistic formats and workshops, and the festival will come directly to its audience. Some of them will become part of Club 0 and will be able to observe the contemporary performance scene up close for two months, as well as being present at the planning and execution of the following public part of the festival.

The Zero Point for the Public will take place at the end of November 2024. As has been its tradition in previous years, it will focus on a wide range of projects in the field of contemporary dance, object and visual theatre. The programme, curated by Dominika Špalková and Zdeňka Horváthová, will bring inspirations from abroad and the Czech scene and will present works that speak to both young and wider audiences.

The festival team intends to inspire the cultural environment of Prague to work with young audiences and to create a concept for a school festival that is adaptable to different school settings. This year, the school part of the festival will take place at the PORG Gymnasium in Libeň and the public part will be hosted by the Kampus Hybernská.

“With this new format we would like to take a step towards the young audience. We are aware that there are more projects with this ambition today and they are all very necessary, because theatre without an audience can easily become self-contained. That’s why we decided to actively reach out to young people and involve them in the planning process and the creation of the festival itself. We especially appreciate the courage and trust of the schools who have opened up to this idea and are coming on board with us. I believe that this will be a journey full of inspiration for all parties and that the final format of the festival will be a participatory platform greatly influenced by young people who want to take such a format as their own,” says festival director Lída Vacková.