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We are Nashville's home for radically unique, independent artists.
Founded in 2018, Kindling Arts develops innovative new works by Nashville’s experimental artists, empowering diverse creators with the resources required to explore challenging ideas in a multidisciplinary context. By providing local artists with space, resources, and practical support, Kindling promotes underrepresented voices and aesthetics, making space for boundary-pushing work that would otherwise be impossible. Kindling’s core programming includes the annual Kindling Arts Festival, a multi-day celebration of local artists that showcases more than a dozen diverse performances and events in various venues throughout Nashville, as well as unique arts events year-round.


UPCOMING

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Kindling Arts Festival 2025:
FORTUNES & FATES


Thursday-Sunday, July 24-27, 2025

Venues in West Nashville, including OZ Arts, Play Dance Bar, Darkhorse Theater, and more​​​

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Kindling Arts Festival 2025 brings you a spellbinding array of 19 original performance projects created by Nashville's most daring artists. From the dark and mysterious to the buoyant and sexy, our Fortunes & Fates festival line-up offers something for every adventurous art-lover: a feminist, electro-pop reimagining of the Salem witch trials,  timely theatrical works wrestling with our present times, a fantastical drug-induced queer journey into a fictional land, interactive events exploring communal power and alternative economies, and so much more. Book your Festival passes now to experience the city's "Best Celebration of Local Art & Artists" (Nashville Scene). ​

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Best Local Theater Performance

The Naughty Tree at the Blue Room (River Timms, Fable Cry, Lenin Fernandez)

Best Wrestling-Karaoke Crossover

Bar Fight!  (Jessika Malone, Diego Gomez, Daniel Carter)  

Best Summer Ticket
 

Kindling Arts Festival 2023 with highlights including The Cackleberry County Fair
immersive party, Bar Fight 2666: Broken Vows and Amm Skellars' Silver Platter at OZ Arts Nashville, and readings of new plays by Josh Inocalla and EmElise Knapp at the Global Education Center

Best Celebration of Local Art & Artists

"Much of the festival’s draw stems from its joyful, inclusive and always celebratory vibe. Empowering both artists and audiences, Kindling Arts provides a much-needed home for some of Nashville’s most surprising, unconventional and uniquely rewarding art."
- Amy Stumpfl

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To support the work of Kindling Arts and Nashville-based artists, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today.
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