Fertile Ground Partner Venues
The Partner Venue program was developed to reduce the burden on Producers to find and provide staffing at a suitable performance venue, bring new artists and audiences into supportive local venues, and offer audiences the opportunity to see a variety of Festival offerings in the same location.
About the Partner Venue Program
Partner Venues are local spaces that Fertile Ground rents out for all or most of the Festival and programs with exclusively Fertile Ground projects! Interested Producers apply through the Partner Venue lottery for a chance to secure performance slots in one of our four Festival venues.
Projects chosen for a Partner Venue pay a flat per-performance rental fee, regardless of the length of their show. Each rental, regardless of number of performances, includes a free technical rehearsal with the support of a venue Technical Director, access to the venue’s lighting, sound, and projection equipment, and front of house support in the form of a House Manager and concessions services.
Projects in a Partner Venue space agree to use the Fertile Ground ticketing system, honor free tickets for Festival Pass-holders, and must adhere to agreed upon load-in/load-out times.
Do you own or operate a venue?
Reach out to fertileground@portlandtheatre.com to have your space added to our list of available venues, or to discuss becoming a partner venue!
Venue Program FAQs
What’s included in the cost of a partner venue rental?
Every Partner Venue is a little bit different, but here’s a general framework:
- 4-5 hours of arranged time in the space for load in/rehearsal/tech before your first performance (additional time available at additional cost).
- Technical Director support throughout your tech rehearsal to help navigate lighting, sound, and projection systems.
- Limited storage space for set pieces and props during the Festival
- Free use of Fertile Ground’s ticketing platform
- Access to a house lighting plot, sound system, and projector.
- Use of the venue dressing rooms starting 1 hour before show time
- Concession services (the venue runs concessions and keeps concession revenue)
Does everyone who applies for a venue automatically get put in the lottery?
Not exactly.
Festival venues are designed to host a large number of rotating projects, which means all projects need to have the ability to be fully loaded in and out of a space quickly. A show might not be right for the lottery if it has a large amount of scenery that would need to be moved and stored, or is very short (15-20 min), or requires technical support that we cannot guarantee.
Our goal is to include every project that applies. If the Festival team has any concerns about placing you in your preferred venues, we will reach out *before* the lottery to share our concerns and discuss alternatives. If you haven’t heard from us, that means your project will be included.
Projects are most likely to be included in the Festival venue lottery if they:
- Have a show and cast aligned to the size of the stage and facilities.
- Can fully load out their props/set and fully clear the performance and dressing room space in 30 minutes.
- Can load in their props/set and accomplish all necessary preshow activities in approximately 30 min.
- Require minimal technical support and can work with a basic light plot/plug in a sound computer.
How does the Venue Lottery work?
Before anything else: GROW Grant recipients receive priority placement in the Festival Venue of their choice before the venue lottery. As many as 6 projects may be placed in venues before the lottery.
First Round Lottery Pull – 1st lottery pull for projects led by LGBTQIA2S+ artists specifically for placement in the Back Door Theatre space. Any projects remaining after all of the Back Door slots have been filled will be placed in the Main lottery
Second Round Lottery Pull – Lottery draw/placement for up to 3 projects that have requested 6+ performances
Third Round Lottery Pull – All other projects are selected through a random lottery, and offered a place in either their first or second choice venue.
Things to note:
The lottery is not an exact science, because shows are of different lengths, or can only perform during certain times, or other specific needs/quirks. Our goal is to fit as many projects into our Partner Venues as possible, and all decisions we make are in service of that goal.
- Projects may be offered more or fewer performance times than they originally requested.
- We do our very best to offer each project a diversity of time slots, but we also sometimes make a judgement call based on our perception of the intended audience (matinee/afternoons for family-friendly shows, late night slots for more mature content, etc).
- You’ll be expected to keep your show length within the limits of your time slot.
What happens if I don’t get a venue?
If we are unable to provide space in one of the Festival venues, you will need to find a different performance venue. We are happy to make recommendations and introductions, but unfortunately can’t guarantee anything. Check out our List of Performance/Rehearsal Spaces for some possibilities, or visit PATA's Company Member Directory to search for potential venues.
When/how do I pay for my venue?
If you accept your venue slot, you will be asked to pay a deposit equaling 50% of the total venue rental by November 30th, 2025. You will be invoiced again for the remaining balance on March 1, 2026.
If you end up needing to withdraw from the Festival for any reason, you can receive a full refund of your deposit if you withdraw before January 19th. If you withdraw after February 13th, due to the administrative time required to make changes and updates (as well as not being able to guarantee a project can step in to fill your slot) we will not be able to refund your deposit.
Accessing Website and Venues
Please email Tamara Carroll at fertileground@portlandtheatre.com to get help navigating our website or ticketing system, if you have questions about the accessibility of performances and venues, or any other questions, concerns, or feedback.
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Contact
fertileground@portlandtheatre.com
