Registration Now Open for ISPA 2026 New York Congress

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Registration Now Open for ISPA 2026 New York Congress

Resilience: A Global Dialogue

January 13 – 15, 2026

New York, NY, USA (September 2, 2025) – Registration is now open for the ISPA 2026 New York Congress, Resilience: A Global Dialogue. Welcoming all cultures, regions, genres, and disciplines within the performing arts field, more than 500 delegates from 60 regions around the world are expected to attend in-person.

“Under the leadership of co-chairs Josephine Ridge (Executive Director, Arts; Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity) and Paul Tam (Executive Director, Performing Arts; West Kowloon Cultural District Authority), the 2026 Planning Committee thoughtfully offers a dialogue that is relevant and timely given the current global environment.” said CEO David Baile. Baile added, “This is a pivotal time for global arts leaders to gather, to affirm the importance of mobility, and celebrate the power of international collaboration through the arts.”

Congress Theme: Resilience: A Global Dialogue

In an era marked by economic volatility, geopolitical conflict, and ever-increasing isolationism, the ability to work internationally has become increasingly complex for organizations, independent producers, and artists. Together, we will explore how we can sustain and develop international partnerships, foster creative exchange, and cultivate the resilience needed to thrive in an unpredictable world.

The Congress theme will be explored through a variety of discussions presented in various formats ensuring a highly interactive three days. Popular programs promoting global exchange of the arts, include Pitch New Works and ProEx (Professional Exchange), will once again be held. The annual ISPA awards will be presented honoring some of the sector’s top leaders and innovations/initiatives. The Congress will be returning to the iconic Times Center.

Online registration is open through January 2nd. The early registration period ends October 25th. For more information on the ISPA 2026 New York Congress, visit https://www.ispa.org/page/congress_ny26.

About ISPA: The International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) is a global association of more than 500 arts management leaders from 60 regions, who come together with the shared goal of strengthening and developing the arts internationally. We achieve this by building leadership ability, by recognizing and discussing field-wide trends and new developments, and by deepening global exchange through the arts. ISPA members include presenters, performing arts organizations, artist managers, competitions, funders, consultants and other professionals working in the performing arts. Founded in 1948, 2024 marked ISPA's 75th anniversary.

About ISPA Congresses: ISPA Congresses bring together performing arts leaders to discover the next great idea, strengthen relationships, and rejuvenate their passion for the arts. Programming is geared toward administrators, presenters, managers, agents, artists and government/cultural leaders.

ISPA holds two Congresses annually, one every January in New York City and a second Congress in a different region of the world. Recent mid-year Congress locations include Hong Kong, China (2022); Manchester, UK; (2023), Perth, Australia (2024); and Lugano, Switzerland (2025). With upcoming congresses in Singapore (2026), and Uppsala, Sweden (2027). For more information about ISPA congresses, visit https://www.ispa.org/page/congress_landing.

Photos: http://bit.ly/ispacongresses
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