New This Year
To celebrate our 5th year of RE•VER•BER•ATE, we’re making some exciting changes to give more people more ways to take part! This year’s festival takes place April 28th through May 1st at the Chicago Cultural Center, and it’s completely free and open to the public.
- Saturday Programming: We’ve shifted our festival days to run Wednesday through Saturday, with school groups prioritized to attend and perform through Friday. Saturday is designed for family, friends, outside groups, and community to celebrate the arts together outside of the school day. More details coming soon!
- Fashion and Film: We’re now accepting applications from original fashion and short film pieces, which will be displayed throughout the week, and shown live on Saturday, May 1st!
- Clinics are back! We’re excited to be bringing back clinics alongside our workshops, open jams, and arts fair.
Applications Open November 1st, 2026 and close February 1st, 2027.
View the Submission Guidelines (Spanish coming soon).
About the Festival
RE·VER·BER·ATE is a celebration of creative expression and student voice, bringing together young artists from all over Chicago for an unforgettable week of art-making, performing, and connection.
More than a performance opportunity, RE·VER·BER·ATE is an immersive learning experience. Students don’t just take the stage, they explore new ideas, engage in collaborative workshops, collaborate in open jam sessions, and connect with professional artists and peers from across the city! Set in the heart of downtown at the historic Chicago Cultural Center, the festival invites students to share their creativity in one of the city’s most iconic venues while discovering the power of the arts to build community, spark dialogue, and celebrate who they are.
Singers, dancers, bands, theatre groups, solo acts, and ensembles of all styles and experience levels are welcome to apply. This year, we’re also welcoming original fashion and short film pieces! Beyond performances, the festival offers workshops, an arts fair, open jams, visual art exhibitions, and opportunities for students across the city to come together to perform, create, and connect.
Partnering with The Chicago Cultural Center and the Design Museum of Chicago, RE•VER•BER•ATE serves as a testament to what happens when our students, teachers, and arts professionals of Chicago come together to create a truly unique event for our CPS artists.
RE•VER•BER•ATE Deadlines for School Year 26/27
- RE•VER•BER•ATE Application Opens
November 1, 2026 - RE•VER•BER•ATE Application Closes
February 1, 2027 - RE•VER•BER•ATE Notification of Acceptance
Mid-February - RE•VER•BER•ATE Festival
April 28th - May 1st, 2027
What Does RE•VER•BER•ATE Offer?
RE·VER·BER·ATE brings together students, teachers and professional artists from across Chicago for a festival focused on celebrating student performance and artistic expression.
-
Performances
Student performances include solo acts and ensembles of all sizes: Instrumental, choral, theatre, dance, and more. New this year, we’re also accepting applications for fashion and short films!
-
Exhibitions
RE•VER•BER•ATE is hosted in tandem with our All-City Visual Arts (ACVA) Exhibition across the street at the Design Museum of Chicago (DMoC).
-
Arts Fair
Discover arts programs and opportunities throughout Chicago! Past participants of the arts fair include: Chicago Children’s Theatre, After School Matters, Art in Motion, Chicago Public Library, and more!
-
Workshops
RE•VER•BER•ATE features workshops for students led by professional artists. 2026 workshops included printmaking, collaging, poetry slam, improv theatre, and more!
How to Participate in RE•VER•BER•ATE
Selection Process for RE•VER•BER•ATE
RE•VER•BER•ATE seeks to offer a platform to as many student artists as possible over the course of the festival days. When curating the festival, the RE•VER•BER•ATE team works in collaboration with additional partners to purposefully ensure an acceptance list that fully represents the breadth and depth of the arts across Chicago Public Schools. This includes artistic discipline, experience level, geography, cultural diversity, and instrumentation. We strongly encourage submissions that represent the lived experiences of students and educators across Chicago.
The selection process involves the expertise of the Department of Arts Education, the Arts Teacher Leadership Team, and the Arts Student Voice Committee (ASVC).
