Eligible Festivals

The Festival Policy is available for artistic activities that meet the eligibility criteria below. Other festivals of a similar nature may be considered upon request to busrep@caea.com. Equity retains its authority to determine if an artistic activity or company meets the eligibility criteria of the Festival Policy.

To be eligible for consideration to operate under the Festival Policy, a Festival must provide the following documentation:

• The official mandate of the Festival
• Details on how participants are selected for the Festival
• A breakdown of ticket pricing
• List of venues used by the Festival
• A copy of the Festival’s Anti-Harassment Policy and/or procedures for handling and resolving complaints of harassment
• Copies of the contracts between the Festival and the participating Theatre(s)/Artist(s)
  Each contract must detail the full understanding between the Festival and the Producer, including facilities and services made available, registration fee (if any), agreed upon compensation to the Artists (full box office, box office split, honorarium), load in and load out times, rehearsal times in the venue and performance schedule, as well as any other agreed upon arrangements
• Any other relevant information about how the Festival operates

Generally, Festivals operating under the Festival Policy:

• Select participants by lottery or other random selection process
• Offer programming of small scale productions with a limited number of performances and minimal technical and production requirements at reduced ticket prices
• Provide extremely limited technical support and limited rehearsal time in the venue
• Place limitations on load in and load out time
• Provide 100% of the box office to the Theatre/Artists, or:
  In cases where there is a box office split, the Festival retains no more than 30% of the box office in consideration of there being no registration fee, additional tech support, or other services provided. In cases where there is no ticket price or attendance is by Pay What You Can, Equity may agree to the participants being paid an honorarium.

Once a Festival is approved by Equity, the Festival is responsible for letting each participant group (Producer) know that Equity’s Festival Policy is available to them. The following is to be added to the contract between the Festival and the Producer and also to any publicity and festival programs:

“[FESTIVAL NAME] is an approved festival under Canadian Actors’ Equity Association’s Festival Policy.”

In addition, the Festival must advise the Producer that it is their responsibility to liaise with Equity and pay the necessary insurance fees if they plan to engage Equity members as part of their piece.