SHOWCASE & FORUM 2027
Ostrava · 30 September – 2 October 2027
What if a showcase was designed around what happens after the show?
Most music events end when the last concert finishes.
Across Worlds starts from a different question: what can happen because those people were in the same place?
An artist meets a programmer.
A student sits down with someone whose work they have only followed from a distance.
A city discovers a partner.
A conversation becomes an invitation, a collaboration or an idea for something that did not exist before.
That is the thinking behind Across Worlds Showcase & Forum.
SMALL ENOUGH TO REALLY MEET
Across Worlds is intentionally being built on a human scale.
We don’t want hundreds of delegates passing each other with badges around their necks. We want enough time and space for people to actually talk – during a concert, over coffee, at a shared table or in a meeting arranged because we believe those two people should know each other.
Some encounters will be curated by us.
Many more, we hope, will happen on their own.
THE CITY IS PART OF IT
Across Worlds will not take place behind the doors of one conference venue.
It moves through Ostrava – between BUMBUM Comedy Club, DOCK and NOX, three independent venues within walking distance of one another.
There is a reason for that.
Music belongs in places with their own character, audiences and stories. And professional exchange feels different when it happens inside the cultural life of a city rather than beside it.
In a way, it is also a return to the roots.
NOT EVERYONE AT THE TABLE NEEDS TO AGREE
The Forum is not intended as a series of presentations about how well everything works.
We want to bring people to the same table who normally look at culture from different perspectives: artists, festivals, cities, universities, businesses and cultural organisations.
And ask real questions.
How do we create cultural projects that can survive and grow?
What does a city actually gain from culture?
Can partnerships between culture and business become more meaningful?
How do we know whether an event has created real impact?
And how do we make sure the next generation gets more than a seat in the audience?
A good discussion doesn’t necessarily end with an answer.
Sometimes it ends with a better question.
AND THEN?
This may actually be the most important part.
Across Worlds is not being designed only around three days in Ostrava. We want to follow what happens afterwards.
Did an artist receive an invitation?
Did two organisations start working together?
Did a student make a contact that changed something?
Did a conversation turn into a project?
Because that is where we believe the real value of a professional cultural platform begins to show.
The concert is the beginning.
What comes next matters.
WANT TO BE PART OF IT?
The programme and opportunities to participate will be announced gradually.
As Across Worlds 2027 takes shape, this is also where we will introduce the artists, invited guests, partners and people who will become part of it.
So come back from time to time. The story is only beginning.
For now, if the idea resonates with you – as an artist, music professional, university, student, cultural organisation or potential partner – we’d like to hear from you.
Ostrava · Czech Republic