Perform Europe: Third Call for Cross-Border Touring in the Performing Arts
Overview
Perform Europe operates as a structural intervention in the performing arts touring landscape, funded through the Creative Europe programme and spanning 41 countries. This third open call distributes €1.4 million in total, positioning itself not merely as a mobility grant but as a mechanism for rethinking how work circulates across borders. The scheme demands partnership: at least three partners from three different Creative Europe countries must jointly submit a proposal, ensuring that touring is conceived as a collaborative act rather than a unilateral export. The work itself must be finished and drawn from circus, dance, outdoor arts, performance art, puppetry, or theatre—live music and opera are explicitly excluded—and it must be presented in a minimum of three Creative Europe countries during the touring window of 1 March 2027 to 31 January 2028. What distinguishes this call is its curatorial ambition. Perform Europe does not simply fund the movement of shows; it asks partnerships to propose touring models that can lead to real change in the sector. The stated priorities—inclusion and diversity, the fight against climate change, and particular attention to fair and equitable working conditions—are not decorative. They are the evaluative lens through which proposals will be read. This means that the logistical plan for touring is inseparable from the ethical and ecological questions of how, why, and for whom work travels. Artists and organisations are invited to think beyond the conventional festival circuit and to imagine touring as a practice of care, sustainability, and genuine exchange. The grant is open to all performing arts professionals and organisations legally based in the 41 Creative Europe countries. There is no application fee. The deadline is rolling, which places the onus on applicants to prepare thoroughly and submit when the partnership is genuinely ready. For artists and producers working across borders, this is a rare opportunity to fund a tour that is also a proposition about the future of the sector.