AECFest 2026 unfolds as a year-long constellation of encounters between Asia and Europe. This year, the festival presents its most ambitious programme to date: 11 remarkable productions spanning contemporary dance, film, theatre and multidisciplinary performance, and bringing together artists from 19 countries across Asia and Europe.

The edition includes a Curtain Raiser in Hong Kong (China) in April, the Main Festival in Utrecht, the Netherlands, from 14 to 23 May, and a Closing Curtain event in Singapore in June. The 2026 Residency Programme stretches across the year, allowing ideas, practices, and relationships to develop over time. 

We begin the journey in Hong Kong in April, with a Curtain Raiser in collaboration with the Tai Kwun Arts Centre. A powerful contemporary theatre show bringing together artists from China and Denmark to spotlight tensions between perception and reality.  

Hosted for the first time in the Netherlands, the Main Festival in Utrecht marks a new chapter in AECFest’s ongoing exploration of artistic exchange. Presented in collaboration with SPRING Performing Arts Festival, this edition places contemporary artistic practices at the centre, inviting artists and audiences to engage with shared questions, lived realities, and shifting cultural landscapes across both regions. 

Building on recent editions presented in Italy (2024) and China (2025), AECFest 2026 continues to evolve through collaboration with leading international arts platforms, deepening its commitment to long-term artistic relationships rather than one-off presentations. Conceived as a festival-in-a-festival within SPRING’s wider programme, AECFest explores Asia–Europe collaboration as a lived condition: embodied, negotiated, and constantly shifting. 

The Festival will close in Singapore on 19 June with a contemporary dance performance that examines how we embody memory, sensation and time. The Closing Curtain will be presented in collaboration with T.H.E Dance Company and con:tact dance festival at Esplanade Theatres on the Bay. 

Overall, AECFest 2026 explores presence, perception, and belonging – themes that resonate across borders.