Slow Performing Arts Festivals for Improved Wellbeing, Mental Health and Social Inclusion (Festival SPA)

The Festival SPA is a project of rest, accessibility and slow viewing. The SPA Festival aims to transform the three participating festivals (Mladi levi, Santarcangelo and Homo Novus) into festivals of conscious slowing down in contrast to the usual fast pace of festivals, into spaces of rest, deep observation and enjoyment of performances.

It aims to encourage festivals to find inclusive solutions for the different communities that coexist with festivals in one way or another (for example neuro-atypical individuals or the elderly), thus increasing the social inclusion of vulnerable groups. It also pays special attention to the mental health of festival teams, who are usually subject to increased workloads and stress during festivals. The aim is to consciously and inclusively cultivate joy, growth and inclusiveness, and above all, to test different formats and make recommendations to relieve the pressure on the sector and on festival production, based on the six editions of the festivals.

The project is based on the exchange of experiences and mutual support of the three festivals’ organising teams, the programming of performances whose timing or atypical format encourages a slower and more immersive arts experience, and the creation of festival spaces and events, such as festival centres and festival parties, tailored for vulnerable audience groups. The whole project is monitored, evaluated on an ongoing basis by four experts in the fields of care, wellbeing and mental health on the crossroads of performing arts sector and production. The team of experts is also tasked with suggesting improvements to the festivals organization and preparation of final guidelines addressing other festivals and the whole performing arts sector.

Over the next two years, various “spa treatments” from festival centres to slow performances will be implemented and tested at festivals by three participating organisations – Bunker (SI), Santarcangelo dei Teari (IT) and New Theatre Insitute of Latvia (LV).

Bunker Institute

(Leader) Ljubljana

Ljubljana

All projects of Slovenian producer

Foreign producers in the supported project

Santarcangelo dei Teatri (partner)

Italy (EU)
Latvijas Jaunā teātra institūts (partner)

Latvia (EU)

Funded projects

The Film Corner Clubs 2026-2028. From virtual to real (TFCClubs)

Here I am! (HIA)

EUthentic Detectives – Fostering Media literacy of people who face cognitive challenges, their caregivers and young volunteers

CEE Animation Workshop (CEE AW) – 2026

Film in Hospital - a pan-European Film Initiative for Young Audiences in Healthcare Structures (Film in Hospital 3.0)

THE FIRST DOG (TFD)

36. and 37. Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe)

The 22nd and 23rd Kino Otok - Isola Cinema International Film Festival in Years 2026 and 2027

The 12th and 13th edition of FeKK - Ljubljana Short Film Festival

Animateka International Animated Film Festival (AIAFF)

Young Stories from the Old Continent (YSOC)

Bookmark – Marking Europe's Best Narratives

No Person Is An Island (NPII)

Immersive European Cultural Heritage Outreach (Immersive ECHO)

European Media Art Platform Extended (EMAP Extended)

EHIN - European Hybrid Intelligence Network

W.Write – Women, Writing, Rights, and Rites: reimagining the ecosystem of Literary Arts

RE-MIND: A Mindfulness-Based Capacity-Building Model for Digital Wellbeing and Intergenerational Audience Engagement in Museums

New Steps: EU’s first steps towards career transition support for dancers

Brave Creative Producers (BCP)

stART point - a platform where performing arts and young people get connected (stART.)

Heritage Understanding & Participation Hackathon: Co-creating Cultural Heritage Experiences with and for youth (Hup Hackathon)

Artificial Intelligence for Artistic Futures and Creative Talents (ARTIFACT)

CULTIVATOR

Architecture With an Approach to Regeneration and Empowerment (AWARE)

Upsala – SUITCASES

Invisible painting (IP)

Building, Revising, Including - Diaspora and Gender Equality (BRIDGE)

Studio Virc – Mini Slate 2025: Izzvenelo bo, Dolasilla, princesa usode, Tujek, Pobeglo srce

NOSOROGI – Mini Slate 2025: Three Waters Meet, The Healers, Liar, Thief, Flea-Eater

Mono O – Mini Slate 2025: The Happiest Day, The Last Roast, After Sunday

Cvinger – Mini Slate 2024: Before the Eyes Turn Black, Reckoning by the Sea, Project North

Venice Eastern Gate

ECHOES from Invisible Landscapes

PORT OF DREAMERS

ACuTe: Culture Testbeds for Interactivity, Performance and Technology

Rail2Dance (Rail to Dance)

Innovation through media collaboration: Digital assets exchange platform (MEDEXCHANGE24)

Animation HUB (A-HUB)

Word: Enhancing European Graphic Novel Perception, Circulation and Market Development

Roma Soul Food (ROMASOUL)

Tying the European Cultural Landscapes with Knots and Patterns (Knots and Patterns)

Hiking Heritage Trails (INHERIT)

Sensory Artistic Experiences for the Blind (Multisensory Art)

PASS – Pass the Street (Art), Shake the Hand

Slow Performing Arts Festivals for Improved Wellbeing, Mental Health and Social Inclusion (Festival SPA)

Staragara – Slate 2024 (The Colour of the Doubt, Black Swan, Removal, We would have told each other everything, Kozmonavti)

PAGE: Project for Advancing coGnitivE accessibility in publishing

NEB COOLTOURS: Transforming Tourism Through Cultural Innovation and Environmental Stewardship in Alpe-Adria

Bridges

Transition to 8: European societies in flux

ENACT – Easy-to-understand News for Collaborative Transformation

THRIVE – Talent Harvest: Rural Intangible Heritage and Value Empowerment

Land of Lace

CAFE: Redefining Historic Cafés as European Cultural Heritage

ArtElevate – Fostering Inclusive Cultural Expression in Europe

CARE – Culture for Mental Health

Glassmaking Between Tradition and Innovation (GTMI)

WONDERCUT – Collaboratively Exploring the Public Value of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Next Level Cultural Experiences

Heroes Unleashed: Implementing a Sensory Reading Program in European Public Libraries (HERUN)

DATAS – The Data and the Sovereign

TALKING HEADS – Conversation with the art of the past

Libraries of Emotions for Good – LOE for Good

GreenHeritage – Nurturing a sustainable future in the gardens of time

G-BOOK 3 – Audience engagement activities for the social and emotional education of EU teens through gender-positive literature and digital technology

DIGITAL on STAGE – Unleashing the Performing Arts Experience through Digital Innovation

OASis – Open Art Spaces in Synergy

Transport: Sustainable puppet co-creations for European young audiences

Danube Dance Alliance for Development of Contemporary Dance Scene in the Danube Region

Mind the GAP

Beletrina Digital

WOMEN interACT – participatory theatre against the double exclusion of women

TECH(ing) TALES WITH A TWIST for the children of the present

DoSEL – Drama of Smaller European Languages

MUSICVILLE – Green European Opera

Operation Nova - OPE.N

Kino x Games

FASIH - Future Art and Science Industrial Heritage

CULTURAL BEES: Promotion of entrepreneurship skills in the Cultural and Creative Industry among youth