BuildFest 2026
Competition Brief
The 1969 Woodstock festival grounds serve as the installation space for BuildFest 2026 which invites academic professionals and design experts and multi-disciplinary teams to develop their major art projects. The five-day live-work festival will enable selected participants to form self-directed groups which will create their artistic projects through building and installation and performance and execution of their plans. The submission process now accepts all humanities fields which include architecture and art and theatre and light and choreography and multimedia work.
BuildFest 2026 continues the festival’s three-year vision of interconnected “Acts” which develop through their sequential progression. The first act of the 2026 performance examines adaptable construction through the building process which creates reusable structures of performance. The second act of 2027 performance examines the artistic process through which previous installation elements get reused in new creative works. The third act of 2028 performance shows interactive activities which allow audience participation.
Architectural design experiments show similar design methods which architects use in their competitions and which architectural news sources document and architectural education programs teach.
Intent
The goal of this project is to create installations which represent building’s three elements of time and performance and structural elements.
Purpose
The festival seeks to create partnerships between academic research and design testing and community involvement while supporting multiple disciplines through material reuse.
Requirements
The submission of proposals requires a single PDF document which must not exceed 20MB to be sent to BuildFest@bethelwoodscenter.org. The document must contain a project statement which needs to be between 250 and 400 words, concept imagery, off-site construction timeline, on-site installation schedule, draft budget, team bios, and links to prior projects. The teams have the option to submit three different types of proposals which include Installation, Activation, and Intervention proposals.
Jury
The BuildFest curatorial team together with academic advisors conducts the evaluation of submissions.
- Stephanie Sang Delgado — Guest Curator
- Neal Lucas Hitch — Chief Curator
- Wavy Davy — Chief of Please (volunteer coordination)
- Mara Morris — BuildFest 2026 Fellow
- Neal V. Hitch — Senior Curator, Bethel Woods
Fees
| Category | Fee |
|---|---|
| Application Submission | Free |
| Volunteer Participation (Please Force) | Free (meals and camping provided) |
Rewards
| Proposal Type | Award | Number of Awards |
|---|---|---|
| Installation (new construction, max 120 ft²) | $1,500 USD | 4 awards |
| Installation (larger scale) | $3,000 USD | 3 awards |
| Activation (multimedia or interactive) | $1,000 USD | 3 awards |
| Intervention (adaptation of existing installation) | Up to $1,000 USD | 2 awards |
Dates
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Submission Deadline | March 30, 2026 |
| Shortlist Interviews | April 2026 |
| Selection Notification | April 30, 2026 |
| Festival Event | September 9 – September 13, 2026 |
✦ ArchUp Competition Review
The Bethel Woods Center will host BuildFest 2026 with its curatorial team and academic advisory board which includes multiple guest and senior curators. The organizers and team members are named but the process evaluation criteria and scoring methods remain partially undisclosed. The competition requires participants to create experimental installations which test multiple disciplines instead of showing commercial products. The submission process requires extensive documentation which includes project statements and schedules and budgets and team biographies although the monetary awards which range from $1,000 to $3,000 are small in comparison to the work needed for large multi-day installations. The festival teaches participants on-site construction skills and public engagement skills and collaborative design skills which makes it a better hands-on exercise for building professional portfolios than a direct work assignment. The curatorial team’s expertise supports informed evaluation, though participants must navigate temporary site limitations and adaptive design challenges.
Critical Conclusion
BuildFest 2026 combines experimental installation and interdisciplinary collaboration and public engagement into a single festival platform. The Please Force provides teams with multiple monetary awards and logistical support and volunteer coordination to explore adaptive design through performative design and reusable design strategies. Academic studios and research-based teams and cross-disciplinary practitioners find their needs met through the focus on staging and choreography and performance practices. The festival structure requires participants to work together while adapting to curatorial instructions and operational limitations of temporary exhibit spaces.
Explore the Latest Architecture Exhibitions & Conferences
ArchUp offers daily updates on top global architectural exhibitions, design conferences, and professional art and design forums.
Follow key architecture competitions, check official results, and stay informed through the latest architectural news worldwide.
ArchUp is your encyclopedic hub for discovering events and design-driven opportunities across the globe.
Registration Deadline
Brought to you by the ArchUp Editorial Team
Inspiration starts here. Dive deeper into Architecture, Interior Design, Research, Cities, Design, and cutting-edge Projects on ArchUp
