PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is produced over three weeks each winter on the unceded and traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ first nations, primarily in the territory that was the seasonal and ancestral village of K’emk’emeláy, colloquially known as Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Festival, held in January and February each year in the lower mainland remains a place for audiences to encounter work that is innovative and surprising, for artists to showcase for an international audience and for new work to emerge.

The Festival showcases international, Canadian and local artists.

Administration
PuSh has a collaborative leadership team: Gabrielle Martin is the Director of Programming for PuSh International Performing Arts Festival; Margo Kane is the Director of Indigenous Programming; Keltie Forsyth is the Director of Operations.

2003 Foundation
The PuSh Festival was co-founded in 2003 by Katrina Dunn of Touchstone Theatre and Norman Armour of Rumble Productions.

2005 PuSh Festival
In 2005, the organization of the Festival was formalized with the creation of a formal board of directors and advisors and by being registered as a charitable organization.

There were 9 productions included in the inaugural 2005 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

2006 PuSh Festival
There were 14 productions included in the 2006 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

2007 PuSh Festival
There were 25 productions at the 2007 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

2008 PuSh Festival
The 2008 PuSh Festival had over 23,000 attendees. Visiting presenters from across Canada and around the world were in attendance for the PuSh Assembly networking event to view performances, network, and experience the Festival.

There were productions at the 2008 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

2009 PuSh Festival
The 2009 PuSh Festival took place from January 20 to February 8, and offered works from across Canada, England, Japan and New Zealand. A total of 136 performances took place at 16 venues across the city and the attendance was more than 24,000.

There were 40 productions in the 2009 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

2010 PuSh Festival
There were 14 productions in the 2010 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

2011 PuSh Festival
There were 30 productions in the 2009 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival:

2012 PuSh Festival
The 2012 PuSh Festival took place from January 16 to February 4, and offered works from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Argentina, the Netherlands, and Mexico. There were over 160 performances and events across 14 venues, of which 31 were sold out. Attendance was over 23,000.

2013 PuSh Festival
The 2013 PuSh Festival took place from January 15 to February 3, and offered works from Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany Japan, Scotland, Taiwan, and the United States. There were over 190 performances and events across 16 venues, of which 44 were sold out. Attendance was over 34,000.

2014 PuSh Festival
The 2014 PuSh Festival took place January 14 to February 2, and offered works from Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Lebanon, Portugal, and the United States. There were over 150 performances and events across 15 venues, including the Vancouver Playhouse, SFU Woodwards and the York Theatre. Feature events included the 10th Anniversary Opening Gala performance and party; 20 Main Stage shows spanning theatre, dance, music and multimedia performance; 17 PuSh Conversations with artists pre- and post-performances; three weeks of startling, experimental performances at Club PuSh; a film series; the PuSh Assembly for arts industry; Patrons Circle donor events; and dinner/theatre packages with Dine Out Vancouver. In 2014, PuSh Festival hosted two Artists-in-Residence in partnership with grunt gallery and the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver) for the first time. The international visiting artists Rabih Mroué of Lebanon and Tim Etchells of England were invited to present their work which crossed visual, theatre and literary forms.

Total attendance numbers reached almost 24,000, with an average house capacity of 79% for performances and 37 sold-out events. The Festival sold out 400 PuSh passes to loyal PuSh patrons by the end of December and launched its inaugural PuSh Youth Passport program, allowing 266 young people aged 16 to 24 to see select performances for discounted ticket prices.

The 2014 Accessible PuSh program issued 375 tickets to community groups to attend performances for free.

A dedicated roster of over 181 volunteers worked more than 2,400 hours in support of the Festival.

2015 PuSh Festival
The 2015 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 20 to February 8, and offered works from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, and the United States. There were over 250 performances and events across 17 venues, of which over 90 were sold out. Attendance was over 28,000.

2016 PuSh Festival
The 2016 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 19 to February 7, and offered works from 7 countries. There were 250 performances and events across 17 venues, of which 125 were sold out. Attendance was over 23,000. The Artist-in-Residence was Jordan Tannahill.

2017 PuSh Festival
The 2017 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 16 to February 5. There were 200 performances and events across 18 venues, of which 97 were sold out. Attendance was over 22,500.

2018 PuSh Festival
The 2018 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 16 to February 4, and featured 96 Canadian artists and 79 International artists. There were 150 performances and events across 18 venues over 20 days.

2019 PuSh Festival
The 2019 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 17 to February 3, 2019. The Artist-in-Residence was The Biting School.

2020 PuSh Festival
The 2020 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place

2021 PuSh Festival
The 2021 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place online.

2022 PuSh Festival
The 2022 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 20 to February 6, 2022

2023 PuSh Festival
The 2023 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 19 to February 5, 2023.

There were 19 contemporary works presented in theatre, dance, music, circus and multimedia in person and online.

2024 PuSh Festival
The 2024 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival took place January 18 to February 4, 2024.

2025 PuSh Festival
The 2025 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival will take place January 23 to February 9, 2025 and celebrates its 20th Festival of Audacious Live Art.