About Frost Bites 2026

FROST BITES returns February 27–March 8, 2026! Hamilton’s only winter theatre festival, we’re heating up the coldest weeks of the year with bold storytelling, community events, and intimate performances in surprising spaces.

NOTE: All planned Frost Bites programming is subject to change pending confirmation of funding.

About the Frost Bites 2026 Place-Based Performance Series

HFTco is seeking applications from artists, companies, or collectives who are playful, collaborative, creative risk-takers to present site-specific work in non-traditional performance spaces throughout the historic Staircase Theatre building at 25 Dundurn St N. 

Successful applications will demonstrate a thoughtful, innovative, and creative approach to making immersive work that integrates the performance and the audience with the place in which it is experienced.

The Place-Based Performance series is planned for March 6 - 8 , 2026 during Week Two of the Frost Bites 2026 winter festival.

Performances of each show take place multiple times between 6pm and 10:30pm on all three nights. Audiences choose which shows they'd like to see and when, making for many unique possibilities for how an individual patron experiences the festival.

Each show is 20 minutes or less. There is no minimum show time. Official performance schedules will be confirmed in collaboration with the selected companies.

Successful applicants will be required to commit to no fewer than two on-site planning meetings, as well as your on-site technical rehearsal (dates TBD). Your company MUST be available for ALL performance dates between March 6-8, 2026 inclusive.

This Year's Theme: "Land, Place, Home."

Planned programming for Frost Bites 2026 is loosely centred around the concept of "Land, Place, Home."

Although you don't need be resident of Hamilton to participate in the Place-Based Performance series at The Staircase theatre, we're highlighting "Place-Based" in the series title for a reason. We want to encourage applicants to think about how their work can engage with this land, this city, its community, and the building we're performing in.

We invite you to consider this theme - and your connection to this place - in your application.

AND REMEMBER: how your work connects to the theme can take a TON of different forms: 

• "I'm interested in the notion that spaces and places retain memory."
• "I imagine this as a weird little love letter to my home town of Hamilton."
• "I want to explore the neighbourhood's untold history."
• "This room gives me the creeps and I'm dying to tell a good ghost story here."
• etc.

"What Exactly Are You Looking For In This Application?"

GREAT QUESTION. Ultimately, we're looking to match creative performance makers with cool spaces.

The application process is meant to give you TWO opportunites to show us the way you think about making a performance in a given space. 

With that in mind – if you are selected to participate, don't fall in too deeply in love with your original proposals in this application! Although things MIGHT work out EXACTLY as you pitch it to us here, it's more likely that the work you do at Frost Bites will shift significantly from the idea you apply with.

The performance will be programmed alongside up to seven other performance groups. That means you might be working in a different space than what you propose here – and that could affect pretty much everything about the show itself.

Successful applicants:

* will demonstrate an thoughtful, innovative, and creative approach to the use of space in their responses

* will consider how design and formal elements like light, sound, video, duration, audience size & placement, etc. may be used (or mindfully NOT used) in their proposed project

* will have some experience in creating and staging original performance work

* will be excited to work in a collaborative and flexible environment alongside other artists and groups

* will clearly express a connection to: Hamilton, the city's arts community, The Staircase theatre, and/or the theme of "Land, Place, Home"

* MUST be available for all performance dates (March 6-8 2026 inclusive)

About the Selection Process

HFTco and our Community Curators Circle will select up to eight (8) applicants to create a dynamic ensemble of companies and artists who will animate the spaces of The Staircase together in a spirit of collaboration and shared creativity.

The selection team encourages applications from companies, collectives, and individuals working in a variety of performance disciplines or inter-arts projects (i.e. a collaboration of artists working in different disciplines).

We will only accept ONE application per company / collective / individual for the Place-Based Performance series.

In asssembling the full slate of companies for the Place-Based series, HFTco and the Community Curators Circle will take into consideration:

* the diversity of disciplines among selected companies

* the diversity of lived experience among selected companies

* the variety of running times (i.e. performance duration) among selected companies

Applicants will be notified of their application status no later than November 25, 2025.

If your company is invited to participate in Frost Bites 2026:

* you will receive a Frost Bites Artist Agreement outlining all terms of your involvement in the festival, including box office pricing details and important planning and technical rehearsal dates.

* you will be required to attend a mandatory all-company meeting where you will have the opportunity to tour The Staircase and to confirm your performance space along with the other companies. HFTco will facilitate the process of space allocation.

* further steps to be provided upon selection.

Box Office Revenue & Guaranteed Minimum Payment:

Each company selected to participate in this series receives an equal share of 70% of Box Office proceeds (net of fees and taxes), with a guaranteed minimum of $750 CAD. Ticket and multi-show pass pricing details will be provided to you in your Artist Agreement if you are invited to participate. HFTco retains 30% of Box Office revenue.

Frost Bites operates under the Festival Agreement with Canadian Actors Equity Association (CAEA).

HFTco Provides:

HFTco provides all Front of House and Box Office services including public-facing volunteers (NOT backstage crew) for participating companies.

Selected companies will be included in all Frost Bites publicity including our program, on our website, through our social media and communications channels, and other marketing and public-facing outreach.

Venue tour; one on-site technical rehearsal (date and time TBD); nightly performance schedule: March 6, 7, 8, 2026 (exact times TBD).

HFTco will act as liaison with The Staircase.

HFTco Does Not Provide:

HFTco does NOT provide production expenses, artistic fees, or additional financial support beyond the revenue share with guaranteed minimum fee specified above.

HFTco does NOT provide rehearsal space.

At this time, HFTco cannot guarantee individual technical staff dedicated to your individual production - plan to have your own Stage Manager, backstage crew, and/or technician depending on your show's specific needs.

Application Fee:

There is a $25.00 CAD non-refundable Application Fee due upon receipt of this form.

Your full application fee must be submitted along with your completed application or received within the specified number of days of submission if paying by cheque or e-transfer.

Applications will not be considered complete until the application fee is processed.

If you choose to pay by cheque, please enclose a PRINTED copy of your mailed application form. If paying by e-transfer, include your company name in the MEMO field.

You must choose one of the following 3 payment methods to pay your $25 application fee:

 - PayPal: pay now via this form

 - Interac E-transfer: send $25 CAD to info@HFTco.ca within 2 days of your submission, and the competitor's name in the memo field

 - Cheque: send a cheque for $25 CAD along with a copy of your application payable to Hamilton Festival Theatre Company. Mailing address 41 King William St, Suite 206, Hamilton, ON, L8R 1A2 Do not mail cash.

Application Deadline

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Applications will be accepted through this portal until 11:59pm ET on the day of the deadline. Make sure you have completed all required fields, and that you have SUBMITTED your application. Upon submitting your application, you will be sent an emailed confirmation to the address you provide. (Check your spam folder!)

Submitted applications must include the $25 CAD non-refundable application fee.

Applications not submitted by the deadline will not be considered.

Applications not accompanied by the full application fee will not be considered.

BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION, don't hesitate to reach out to us at info@HFTco.ca if you have any questions or concerns.

Accessibility Enhancements in this Application

Responses to some questions may be entered using text OR audio. Please use one or the other. (If text AND audio responses are submitted for the same question, the selection committee will only consider the text response.)

Use the Text Resizer buttons just below (labeled A- and A+) to enhance readability.

If you wish to save your progress at any point and complete the form at a later time, you can do so using the 'Save' button at the end of the form.

When you have completed the form, please use the 'Submit' button.

This form has been enhanced with additional ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite) attributes.

YOUR PROJECT PROPOSALS

Below you will find a short video called "Staircase Site Tour." The video contains a virtual tour through many unusual spaces and areas at the venue. Each area is identified in a caption at the appropriate time stamp. Spaces and areas include:

• Studio Theatre
• Studio Stairwell
• Greenroom
• Shop Office Hall & Washroom
• Basement Kitchen
• Metal Staircase (Bottom)
• Main Stairwell (Basement to Main Floor)
• Main Stairwell (Main Floor to 2nd Floor)
• BalconyMain Stairwell (2nd Floor to 3rd Floor)
• Bright Room Backstage Area A
• Bright Room Backstage Area B & Booth
• Bright Room
• Studio Theatre Booth
• Metal Staircase (No Audience Allowed On Staircase)

Step One: Watch the video in its entirety.

Step Two: Choose TWO spaces/areas and create a brief hypothetical Project Proposal for each describing a show that you'd be like to create for that space.

Step Three: Answer all application questions in full.

Video: "Staircase Site Tour"

Examples of Supporting Documentation: Letters of support, photos of past work, past writing sample, CVs of lead artists, etc. Three (3) pages maximum IN TOTAL. Accepted formats include pdf, doc, docx, jpg, jpeg, and png.

Examples of Supporting Media: Web links to promotional video or archival video of past work, audio files of songs, etc.

Please note that no more than 2 mins of each media will be reviewed. Please clearly indicate a "start" time if you would like us to review a specific section of the media file.

Application Fee:

There is a $25.00 CAD non-refundable Application Fee due upon receipt of this form.

Your full application fee must be submitted along with your completed application or received within the specified number of days of submission if paying by cheque or e-transfer.

Applications will not be considered complete until the application fee is processed.

If you choose to pay by cheque, please enclose a PRINTED copy of your mailed application form. If paying by e-transfer, include your company name in the MEMO field.

You must choose one of the following 3 payment methods to pay your $25 application fee:

 - PayPal: pay now via this form

 - Interac E-transfer: send $25 CAD to info@HFTco.ca within 2 days of your submission, and the competitor's name in the memo field

 - Cheque: send a cheque for $25 CAD along with a copy of your application payable to Hamilton Festival Theatre Company. Mailing address: 41 King William St, Suite 206, Hamilton, ON, L8R 1A2. Do not mail cash.