Theatre festivals are amongst the earliest types of festival. Classical Greek theatre was associated with religious festivals dedicated to
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
, called the City Dionysia. The medieval
mystery plays were presented at the major Christian feasts. Theatre as an everyday part of life is a comparatively recent phenomenon.
In recent years, theatre festivals have been established to promote various types of theatre, such as the works of
William Shakespeare and
George Bernard Shaw. Many festivals, such as those in the
fringe theatre
Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fre ...
movement, promote the work of beginning playwrights (called "new writing") and performers.
This is a list of
theatre festivals around the world:
Theatre festivals
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theatre festivals
List of theatre festivals
Festivals