Fertile Ground, a flagship program of the Portland Area Theatre Alliance, is new works performing arts festival spanning the entirety of the Portland Metro Area. The Festival was founded in 2009 by Tricia Pancio Mead and flourished for over a decade under the leadership of Festival Director Nicole Lane.

Fertile Ground features the new work of our LOCAL artists, performers, and resident theatre companies from Portland and the surrounding areas, ensuring that the artistic and financial benefits of the festival stay in the community. Where other new works festivals are typically curated by one entity, this Festival is collaboratively shaped by community participation, uplifting a variety of aesthetic voices.

In 2021, Fertile Ground created the GROW Grant program was created to increase access to presenting work in the Fertile Ground Festival for marginalized and traditionally underrepresented artists. Through the GROW program, Fertile Ground seeks to support the artistic and professional growth of these artists, and to enrich the Portland arts landscape by providing direct support to artists from underrepresented communities.

After taking a strategic hiatus for the 2023 Season, Fertile Ground welcomed new Festival Director Tamara Carroll in September of 2023. Under their leadership, Fertile Ground is exploring a shift from a winter-months Festival to a springtime Festival – aiming to avoid complications from winter weather and encourage out-of-town visitors to attend in a more travel-friendly time of year.

Read more about the current state of Fertile Ground and the ways in which the Festival is hoping to develop by checking out our 2025 Annual Report and 2024 Impact Report below.