Evolving into Chameleons: Survival Strategies for Tampere Theatre Festival during the COVID-19 Pandemic

From the point of view of the author Hilkka-Liisa Iivanainen, the co-artistic director of Finland's Tampere Theatre Festival, the purpose of a performing arts festival is fundamentally challenged by the unforeseen and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In Tampere, the festival's core mission of coming together to celebrate theatre as an art form has almost become secondary to the constantly changing protective measures and regulations. Moreover, the pressure to make a strategic shift into digital or hybrid execution has profoundly changed the practice and goals of curating. After a cancelled festival edition in August 2020 and a downsized festival in August 2021, Iivanainen is rethinking the kinds of paradoxes hidden in the attempt to stay timely as a theatre festival.