Femme Folks Fest 2025

Femme Folks Fest was founded upon principles and hard data from the national Equity in Theatre Initiative. Dr. Michelle MacArthur’s study, Achieving Equity in Canadian Theatre: A Report with Best Practice Recommendations (2015) remains the most recent study on Gender Equity in Canadian Theatre. It was commissioned by Pat the Dog with support from Canada Council for the Arts.

MacArthur’s study included a series of recommendations – key of which is to promote, platform and present femme works. We took this to heart, founding both our Women’s Room (2015-2022) which folded into Femme Folks Fest (2020 ongoing).

These are challenging times for those of us who look beyond simple binary understandings of life and who think with complexity and intersectionality.

We take heart that it’s a new day in Waterloo Region with a fresh group of exciting, talented, nationally recognized local artists who have something to say and a provocative, intriguing, ever-entertaining way that they say it.

We do so in joyous outrage, truth, beauty – and together. We do so in the knowledge that our interconnected lives are equally valuable.

Over 9-days of our 6th Annual Femme Folks Fest we will present over 25 new art imaginings in five venues throughout Kitchener and Waterloo. You can find is at Studio Theatre, Centre in the Square, Uptown Waterloo Visitor Centre, Upper Rotunda, Kitchener City Hall, InterArts Matrix Performance Space and the SDG Idea Factory.