We are Nashville's home for radically unique, independent artists.
Founded in 2018, Kindling Arts develops innovative new works by Nashville’s experimental artists, empowering diverse creators with the resources required to explore challenging ideas in a multidisciplinary context. By providing local artists with space, resources, and practical support, Kindling promotes underrepresented voices and aesthetics, making space for boundary-pushing work that would otherwise be impossible. Kindling’s core programming includes the annual Kindling Arts Festival, a multi-day celebration of local artists that showcases more than a dozen diverse performances and events in various venues throughout Nashville, as well as unique arts events year-round.
Kindling Arts Festival 2026:
U T O P I A S
July 23-26 | West Nashville
Kindling Arts Festival 2026 invites you to explore the theme of Utopias: an invitation to imagine what's possible if we let ourselves dream beyond the limits of what is. For our 9th year of radically unique arts programming, we will again feature more than a dozen performances and events from July 23-26, 2026 (Thursday - Sunday) at multiple venues across West Nashville.
The 2026 Festival celebrates the audacity of imagination. We ask: What does it mean to create in the direction of a world that isn’t here yet? How might artists model systems of belonging, justice, and joy that stretch our shared sense of what’s possible? Together, we can make something better, not someday, but here and now.
Early Bird passes are now on sale with discount prices: $99 for a Standard Pass, $135 for a VIP pass. Book your Festival pass today! Early Bird pricing ends June15th.
THE BADS
Written by Nate Eppler | Directed by Jessika Malone
June 12 + 13 | Welcome to 1979
THE BADS is a loud, funny, punk-rock ghost-story sleepover about Double Exes, a basement-famous all-girl alt-rock quartet with one night to finish the song that’s supposed to change everything. But when the studio starts playing back the past and the future bleeds through the speakers, the band must survive each other, finish the song, and keep from falling apart.
This special workshop presentation offers a rare chance to catch THE BADS in development. Written by Nate Eppler and directed by Jessika Malone, this work-in-progress sharing invites audiences inside the process to help shape the future of this new immersive theatrical experience. Space is very limited for this site-specific sharing. Advance reservations highly recommended.
