Cross the border, change the picture: NEXT Festival returns with queer stories and bodies in motion

From 13 November to 4 December 2026, NEXT Festival turns the Franco-Belgian border region into a meeting place for theatre, dance and performance. Its 19th edition brings together 29 shows by 33 international artists representing 20 nationalities, across 15 cities. With queer histories, feminism, migration and ecology running through the programme, this is an invitation to look beyond your usual venues — and discover artists asking how we might live differently together.

A festival that refuses to stay in one place

NEXT is not a festival with one central stage and a few satellite events. It is built through cooperation: 25 partner theatres across Belgium and France share a programme that moves through the Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai Eurometropolis, Valenciennes and surrounding cities. In Belgium, the route takes audiences to Kortrijk, Deinze, Menen, Ypres, Tielt and Waregem, among other locations.

That geography is part of its identity. Crossing a border becomes an ordinary part of going to see a performance, rather than a dividing line between cultural scenes.

The programme connects that approach to wider questions of exile, justice, feminism, ecology and inclusion. These are not presented through one artistic language: dance, theatre, installations and encounters offer different ways into the conversation.

For LGBTQIA+ audiences, NEXT matters because it gives queer perspectives space within a broader international conversation about power, belonging and the freedom to shape a life.

Queer histories, from Persian pop to the opening night

The festival opens on 13 November at the Opéra de Lille with Androgynous. Portrait of a Naked Dancer, a creation by Lola Arias with the Maxim Gorki Theater. Positioned between theatre and dance, it sets the tone for a programme interested in work that moves between forms.

Another strong queer thread comes through Cabaret Téhéran. Gurshad Shaheman revives figures from Persian pop culture through songs, archive images and personal stories, tracing connections between performance and feminist and queer struggles in Iran. Alone on stage, he moves between these personalities, while family memories complicate the relationship between public history and private experience.

Within NEXT, the show visits Le Bateau Feu in Dunkirk on 17 and 18 November, then Le Phénix in Valenciennes on 24 and 25 November. It is a reason to consider the French side of the programme, rather than treating the Belgian selection as the whole festival.

In Belgium, follow an artist rather than a single show

One of NEXT’s most appealing programming choices is to offer several encounters with the same artist or company. Instead of meeting a practice once and moving on, audiences can spend time with different aspects of it.

Brazilian choreographer Alice Ripoll is one such presence. aCORdo comes to Budatoren in Kortrijk on 14 and 15 November, followed by Adorno at Leietheater in Deinze on 17 November. A workshop with Ripoll and Cie REC at Budascoop on 18 November adds a participatory encounter to the performances.

Bare Feet Dance Theatre also appears across several formats. In Kortrijk, the programme includes a workshop, the exhibition Body in the Field, performances of Tsiah Thoo and a shared lunch. The company then presents Lingering in Waregem on 27 November.

Jo Bannon’s presence unfolds over several days, too: Sleight of Hand, The Dirty Work and Passing sit alongside a dinner with the artist. Together, these strands make room for a slower kind of discovery — returning to an artist’s work rather than collecting unrelated highlights.

The dates and formats above follow the Belgian programme supplied by the festival.

Bodies, senses and other ways of paying attention

The Belgian selection also offers plenty of ways to build your own route through the festival.

Nagham Salah Othman presents Inhabiting My Body at Budascoop on 14 and 15 November. Later in the month, Ypres hosts Bryana Fritz and Thibault Lac’s Lick-Horn, the exhibition SENSES, and HYPERSENSES by Laika and Zefiro Torna.

Other stops include Marta Cuscunà’s Corvidae. Quand les espèces se regardent. in Tielt, Léa Drouet’s Rodéo in Kortrijk, and Jefta van Dinther’s Mercury Rising at Schouwburg Kortrijk.

These works should not all be placed under a single queer label. Their interest lies partly in their differences: the programme allows explicitly queer perspectives to sit alongside other artistic investigations, rather than asking every work to represent the same experience.

The underlying invitation is one of curiosity — towards unfamiliar forms, other bodies and perspectives that may not immediately resemble your own.

Workshops, meals and time between performances

NEXT’s encounters are not limited to the auditorium. The Belgian programme includes workshops with Alice Ripoll and Cie REC, Bare Feet Dance Theatre and Zora Snake, as well as meals with Bare Feet Dance Theatre, Jo Bannon and Zora Snake.

There is also 2 jaar Ge Durft!, a day at Budascoop on 28 November dedicated to young people, art, vulnerability and resilience.

These formats offer a different relationship with the festival. A workshop asks for participation; a meal creates time around the performance. Neither automatically guarantees intimacy or accessibility, but both make space for something other than arriving, watching and leaving.

The final evening, on 4 December, brings Zora Snake’s Combat des lianes to Schouwburg Kortrijk at 8pm, followed by Lander Gyselinck’s Hi-Hats in Trees at 10pm — a closing double bill for those who want to stay a little longer.

Practical information

• Festival: NEXT Festival, 19th edition.
• Dates: 13 November–4 December 2026.
• Region: The Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai Eurometropolis, Valenciennes and surrounding Belgian and French cities.
• Scale: 29 shows, 33 international artists, 20 nationalities and 25 partner theatres across 15 cities, according to the festival’s press information.
• Full programme and booking: Visit NEXT Festival.
• Prices: Not included in the supplied programme. Check the individual event and booking pages for ticket rates, workshop fees and meal reservations.
• Languages and surtitles: Check each production separately; the international programme should not be assumed to be language-free or English-accessible throughout.
• Accessibility: Confirm step-free routes, accessible seating, sensory information and any specific support with the relevant venue. The supplied overview does not establish one access arrangement across all locations.

Selected Belgian dates for your diary

Event	Date and time	Venue

Event	Date and time	Venue
aCORdo — Alice Ripoll	14 November, 3pm and 7pm; 15 November, 2pm and 6pm	Budatoren, Kortrijk
Inhabiting My Body — Nagham Salah Othman	14 November, 8pm; 15 November, 7pm	Budascoop, Kortrijk
Adorno — Alice Ripoll	17 November, 8pm	Leietheater, Deinze
Lick-Horn — Bryana Fritz & Thibault Lac	18 November, 8.45pm	Het Perron, Ypres
Tsiah Thoo — Bare Feet Dance Theatre	22 November, 6.30pm; 23 November, 8pm	Schouwburg, Kortrijk
Corvidae. Quand les espèces se regardent. — Marta Cuscunà	24 November, 8pm	Theater Malpertuis, Tielt
Sleight of Hand — Jo Bannon	25–26 November, 2pm; 27–28 November, 3pm	Schouwburg, Kortrijk
Rodéo — Léa Drouet	28 November, 4pm	Budascoop, Kortrijk
HYPERSENSES — Laika & Zefiro Torna	28 November, 8.15pm; 29 November, 4pm	Het Perron, Ypres
Mercury Rising — Jefta van Dinther	29 November, 6.30pm	Schouwburg, Kortrijk
The Dirty Work — Jo Bannon	1 December, 2pm; 2 December, 7pm	Schouwburg, Kortrijk
Passing — Jo Bannon	2–3 December, 6pm	Budascoop, Kortrijk
Flaming Creatures — Latifa Laâbissi & Walid Ben Selim	3 December, 8pm	Budascoop, Kortrijk
Combat des lianes — Zora Snake	4 December, 8pm	Schouwburg, Kortrijk
Hi-Hats in Trees — Lander Gyselinck	4 December, 10pm	Schouwburg, Kortrijk

Schedule based on the festival’s supplied Belgian programme; check individual listings before booking.

A single performance can be enough to begin. NEXT’s pleasure is that the next encounter might take you to another town, another language or a way of seeing you had not planned for.

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