Call for Submissions: Nuit Rose 2026 – Rewilding

Throbbing Rose Collective, Toronto

Photo: Eric Chengyang

Call for Submissions: Nuit Rose 2026 – Rewilding
A Festival of Queer Art and Performance

Extended Submission Deadline: January 31, 2026 at 11:59pm ET
Apply Online

Project Summary

Nuit Rose: The Festival of Queer Art and Performance returns to Toronto in June 2026, ready to rewild the Church–Wellesley Village with installations, live performances, community activations, and parties.

First launched during WorldPride 2014, Nuit Rose has grown into one of Canada’s most celebrated queer art festivals, showcasing over 300 projects across six editions (2014–2019). Organized by the Throbbing Rose Collective, Nuit Rose brings together artists, curators, performers, and community builders to ignite collaboration and celebrate queer creativity in all its forms.

After a six-year hiatus, Nuit Rose 2026 – Rewilding reclaims the Village as a site of cultural renewal. The theme Rewilding invites artists to explore regeneration, resistance, and joy, to plant seeds of change in a rapidly transformed landscape. Through light, sound, performance, and installation, the festival will celebrate resilience and reimagine queer futures.

Nuit Rose returns for its 7th edition from June 18 – 21, with the Main Event on Saturday, June 20 at 7:00pm throughout Toronto’s Church–Wellesley Village.

Project Requirements

Artists are invited to interpret and respond to the theme Rewilding through any medium or approach, including but not limited to:

• Reclaiming or reimagining urban spaces as queer ecologies
• Multimedia or interdisciplinary projects
• Participatory or site-responsive works
• Reflections on queer histories, futures, and intergenerational storytelling
• Explorations of play, transformation, and renewal as acts of resistance

Submissions may include two-dimensional works, sculpture, installation, performance, screen-based media, or community activations. Indoor and outdoor proposals are welcome.

Eligibility

Open to artists, performers, writers, curators, cultural organizations, and community groups. We strongly encourage applications from individuals and organizations reflecting diverse identities across sexuality, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, age, ability, and experience.

Photo: Eric Chengyang

Compensation

Selected projects may be designated as:

• Featured Projects – receive artist fees based on CARFAC rates plus key venue placement
• Contributing Projects – receive venue space and promotional support
• Partner Projects – self-organized projects included in festival promotion

Selection Process

A jury of artists and curators will review all submissions based on:

• Artistic merit and originality
• Project feasibility and clarity
• Community engagement potential
• Representation of diversity and intersectionality
• Alignment with the 2026 theme Rewilding

Applicants will be notified of results by Wednesday, April 1, 2026.

Nuit Rose 2026 branding banner. Design: Cai Sepulis

Submission Requirements

Applicants must submit via the online form and include:

• Completed application form
• Project description (max 500 words)
• Up to 5 images or video links of relevant work
• Artist bio or CV (max 3 pages)
• Technical or spatial requirements (if applicable)

Incomplete submissions cannot be considered.

How to Submit

Submit your proposal through the online portal.

Extended Submission Deadline: January 31, 2026 at 11:59pm ET

For questions or assistance, please contact: info@throbbingrose.ca

Throbbing Rose Collective
Toronto, ON, Canada
throbbingrose.ca
info@throbbingrose.ca

Facebook: @Throbbing-Rose
Instagram: @throbbingrose

Nuit Rose Facebook: @nuitroseto
Nuit Rose Instagram: @nuitroseto

Accessibility:
Nuit Rose is a multi-venue event that’s free and open to the public.

Image Descriptions:
1. A lively nighttime street scene during a Pride celebration. A performer dressed in shimmering orange and gold fabric stands tall on stilts, arms outstretched like wings, wearing a feathered headpiece that resembles a bird.
2. A person holding a colourful lotus-shaped lantern made of translucent petals in shades of pink, orange, yellow, and green. The scene takes place outdoors in a lush, green park. In the background, slightly out of focus, other people are gathered.
3. Festival branding banner featuring the text “Nuit Rose: Rewilding” in magenta and turquoise antler graphics on a yellow background. The lower left text reads “A Festival for Queer Art and Performance.”