International Festival of Creative Ageing (IFCA)

There is something thrilling about the creative possibilities of growing older. Across the world, older artists are making remarkable work, drawing on a lifetime of experience, curiosity and imagination to explore new artistic territory. Their work can be daring, mischievous, provocative and deeply moving, opening our eyes to different ways of seeing the world.

Curated by The Performance Ensemble, under the artistic direction of Alan Lyddiard, the International Festival of Creative Ageing brings together older artists from around the world to create and share adventurous new ideas. Through ambitious performances and artistic experimentation, the festival explores the experience of growing older in a changing world, connecting audiences across generations and challenging ageism through the power of art.

Our ambition is to inspire, with others, a worldwide movement for creative ageing, forging lasting artistic partnerships and celebrating the extraordinary creativity, talent and ambition of older artists across the world.

Opening in Leeds on 1st October 2027, the festival begins with two weeks of performances, talks, and workshops in collaboration with stage@leeds. The programme is developed with artists and companies from Finland, Singapore, Denmark, Hong Kong, Malta and the Czech Republic, bringing distinctive approaches to contemporary theatre and dance.

From 15 to 17 October we are at Factory International’s Aviva Studios in Manchester.

The programme includes a meeting of the International Creative Ageing Network (ICAN), organised by the Baring Foundation and Kaapeli in Helsinki. Plus, Factory International’s presentation of the world tour of A Year Without Summer by Florentina Holzinger, featuring an intergenerational cast of amazing women.

We are also connecting with Manchester’s age-friendly cultural network, before concluding with a party at the Whitworth Gallery on 31 October.

Developing our connections with Europe, a two-week programme at the KulturForum in Kiel, Germany, will feature performances and events created by local artists.

Finally, a digital programme from across the globe will be shared, including live streamed performances, conversations, debates and provocations, extending the festival beyond its physical locations.

The Leeds programme will also offer a first glimpse of Europe, a new international production by The Performance Ensemble. Directed by Alan Lyddiard, in collaboration with dramaturg Duška Radosavljević (Serbia), choreographer Tamara McLorg (UK) and composer Nikola Kodjabashia (Macedonia). The performance draws on the personal stories of older artists to explore their experiences of a changing Europe.

Come and be part of it

For more information and all other enquiries, contact

izzy@theperformanceensemble.com

Sharing our partners' activities

For the past three years, we have been working towards this moment. It has taken countless conversations, meetings, journeys, moments of uncertainty and, of course, an extraordinary amount of hard work by the TPE team alongside friends and partners here in the UK and across the world.

For example, over the last couple of years we have travelled across the UK building partnerships in Leeds, Manchester, Barrow-in-Furness, Coventry and Norwich as well as in China, Hong Kong, Malta, Denmark, Mexico, Finland, France and in December Artistic Director Alan Lyddiard will be travelling to Singapore and Malaysia to see work and meet some more brilliant older artists there.

The International Festival of Creative Ageing will open in October 2027, and in the run-up to the festival, we are proud to be sharing our partners’ work. These partners are championing creative ageing across the globe through the use of music, dance, stories and art, starting with The Gambori Festival in Malta this November.

We are grateful and excited to be working with and alongside them as we continue to celebrate the beauty that comes with ageing and the art we can create through this together.

ĠAMBORI AT IT-TEATRU TA' SAN VINĊENZ

Ġambori returns to It-Teatru Ta’ San Vinċenz on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 November 2026, continuing Teatru Malta’s festival dedicated to creativity, performance and active ageing.

At the centre of the festival are participants from Każin 60+, who work throughout the year with professional directors and practitioners to develop stage presence, improvisation, voice and storytelling.

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