Theatre festivals are beasts. As an arts administrator and technician, I've worked on both small and large scale festivals. I recently had an extremely bad experience, that may have jaded me and my impression of festival work.

After working behind the scenes on said festival, I became extremely aware of it's short comings in the "management" end. I realized a few things, and have begun to ask questions about the impact and implications of theatre festivals on the industry.

My first question is who really "wins" from the experience of a theatre festival? How much collaboration really happens? Other questions that I've found myself asking: What is the intention of a festival? Does the work ever trump the bottom line? What type of "administration" is needed for a successful festival? Is there succession planning in festivals, why or why not? Is incorporating festivals worth while? Is a one person curation a viable assessment of works chosen to be showcased?

I know it's completely unreasonable to have a cookie cutter lay-out of festival management, should [large] fiscal or umbrella sponsors have a responsibility / accountability for the work produced [should they act as a "board member" of sorts, and what are their 'obligations']?

What are your feelings about festivals? Good, bad, indifferent? Let me know, I'm very open to all opinions.