About & History

The PuSh Festival works on the unceded and traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ first nations, primarily in the territory that was the seasonal and ancestral village of K’emk’emeláy. We want to express our deep gratitude for those who have cared for this land from time immemorial. As settlers on this territory we are striving to build reciprocal relationships with our Host Nations and the Indigenous Urban Communities of artists and audiences on this territory and beyond. 

In 2003, co-founders Norman Armour and Katrina Dunn envisioned a vibrant, mid-winter event series where Vancouver artists could forge relationships and opportunities with the rest of Canada and beyond. They saw the potential benefits of a dynamic interplay between disparate disciplines, between arts patrons, and between the city’s venues and creative communities.

For more than two decades, the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival has been BC’s signature, mid-winter cultural event delivering audacious, innovative, contemporary works of live arts by acclaimed local, national, and international artists. 

Curated, multidisciplinary, international in scope—the Festival animates culture and accelerates social change with performance and multimedia projects that embrace creative risk and share a sense of cultural urgency.

Our artistic vision is to create new possibilities for artistic expression and how we relate to one another, expanding our sense of the world while challenging assumptions. As such, we seek to amplify our position as a connector, cultivating opportunities for artistic kinship and intercultural exchange through both live arts experiences, as well as community engagement and professional development initiatives. We think about accessibility as equity design, from the integration of tools that make our performances more inclusive for people with a range of lived experiences, to programming artistic work that rigorously centres audience experience through thoughtful dramaturgy.

Professional development opportunities at the Festival take many forms and forums. A highlight is the PuSh Industry Series: a performing arts industry initiative that brings together 200+ visionary local, national and international artists and arts workers to engage in professional development and curatorial research activities alongside the artistic Festival program. It’s an opportunity to collectively dialogue industry issues, to spark ideas, to make new connections, and to be transformed by live performance.

Vision

We envision a society fully engaged in empathy and the arts, and activated by a festival that expands our sense of the world.

Mission

The PuSh Festival creates new possibilities for artistic expression and how we relate to one another. We present a performing arts festival that challenges our assumptions, facilitates deeper understanding, inspires the imagination, and fosters meaningful connections.

Values

Inter-cultural connection:

We connect locally and globally across cultures and contexts to promote collaboration, creative and political stimulation, knowledge transmission, and empathy.

Transformative experiences:

We curate culturally urgent and rigorously realized performing arts to create transformative audience experiences.

Innovation & experimentation:

We celebrate creative risk with artistic programming that pushes the possibility of live art, and organizational practices that are adaptive and forward thinking.

Social justice:

In our operations and programming, we use our power and privilege to challenge systemic inequities and to amplify the voices of those who are, or who have been historically, marginalized.

Care & reciprocity:

We engage with people as humans first, nurturing connections built on mutual respect, dignity, and understanding. We strive for sustainable and reciprocal relationships.

Accountability:

Recognizing that innovation carries risk and that we will make mistakes, we foster a culture of psychological safety, continuous learning and accountability.

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