Festival
For over a decade the STAND Festival has been enlivening campuses across Ireland with its provocative exhibitions, engaging events and initiatives aimed at raising awareness about pressing global issues.
STAND’s Global Solidarity Festival is a week-long programme that brings exhibitions, events, and creative activities to campuses across Ireland. Each year, the festival engages students and staff across 14+ campuses through initiatives that vary per campus but include:
- A large-scale, week long, outdoor exhibition in high-footfall campus spaces
- A Global Solidarity Fair featuring interactive activities hosted by NGOs, artists, societies, and campus-led initiatives
- Student or Staff led events that focus on global solidarity (such as film-screenings, workshops, games nights, swap shops, campaigns and fund-raisers)
- Tailored workshops offered by STAND in Radical Imagination and other related topics
This year’s theme, How Can We Live Together?, explores peace, solidarity and global citizenship through a photography exhibition featuring work by professional war photographers, complemented by case studies, commentary and student inputs, alongside dialogue, creativity and action on campus.
We are inviting Higher Education staff across Ireland to express their interest in hosting the STAND Global Solidarity Festival 2026/27 on their campus. See below.
LOOKING TO HOST THE FESTIVAL AT YOUR CAMPUS in 2026-2027? Book now: Contact Susie Spratt [email protected]
Keep reading to find out more about:
Launch of the STAND Festival Exhibition 2025 at University of Galway with Latisha McCrudden, Adam Mullins and Molly Hickey.
Participants of a hip hop dance workshop with Tobi Balogun at UL, hosted as part of the collaboration with Go Dance for Change
The STAND Festival Exhibition visits TU Dublin
The STAND Festival Exhibition hits the NCAD Campus
Dance Flashmob at Trinity College as part of the collaboration with Go Dance for Change
Baisat Alawiye, who was featured in our Exhibition, joined us at Maynooth University during the Festival.
IADT students wrote on ribbons their answer to the question "What's one way you express yourself?", which was the theme for our Festival Info Booth during Transgender Awareness Week
Students interacting with the STAND Festival Info Booth at Queen's University in Belfast
Josue Reis from Go Dance for Change gives a hip hop workshop at Maynooth University
A swap shop organised in collaboration with Change Clothes at University of Galway
Dancers from Street Theatre for Equality who performed a flashmob at UCD.
Conga line led by Go Dance for Change at the STAND Student Festival launch (2023). Image: Erin Kehoe.
Two students browsing clothes at a Swap Shop in TUD as part of the Festival (2024). Image: Susie Spratt.
Students and staff at TUS Clonmel (2024). Image: Susie Spratt.
2022 Exhibition, Gender Justice Now.
Susie Spratt, Festival Manager, at the Info Booth (2024).
Mary Fleming (left), founder of Change Clothes Crumlin, running a workshop at the Festival (2024). Image: Susie Spratt.
Students making tote bags at Change Clothes Crumlin workshop, Maynooth (2023). Image: Susie Spratt.
Volunteer at University of Galway makes SDG buttons (2023). Image: Susie Spratt.
Vegan cooking workshop at University College Cork (2023). Image: Susie Spratt.
STAND volunteers with their handmade tote bags after a Change Clothes Crumlin workshop (2023). Image: Susie Spratt.
Students building the House of Cards, designed by Sasha Beatty and Delfine Ryan, at Trinity College Dublin (2023). Image: Susie Spratt.
Students at a Festival workshop in collaboration with Concern Worldwide (2023). Image: Susie Spratt.
Noor Ul Ain with the panel featuring her story at the Festival Launch (2023). Image: Amanda Marques.
Tejaswi Swathi Kovuri and Eoghan Ryder, two members of the Student Advisory Panel 2022-23, launch the Festival (2023). Image: Erin Kehoe.
Students with a completed House of Cards, designed by Sasha Beatty and Delfine Ryan, at University College Dublin (2023). Image: Susie Spratt.
Two staff members at the 2021 exhibition, #RiseUp: Celebrating Resilience.
Co-Creating the Festival: How You Can Get Involved
Student Opportunities
We work closely with students’ unions, society offices, and student volunteers to make the festival student-led and student-powered. Get involved by:
- Organising a student-led event (panel, workshop, spoken word, film screening, creative session)
- Taking part in the Global Solidarity Fair, showcasing your project, society, or campaign
- Volunteering to support the exhibition and info booth on campus
Staff Opportunities
We are inviting Higher Education staff across Ireland to express their interest in hosting the STAND Global Solidarity Festival 2026/27 on their campus. The Festival is a flexible, campus-based initiative combining a week-long exhibition with optional workshops, events and Global Solidarity Fair activities focused on global justice and active citizenship.
Exhibition slots are limited and allocated on a rolling basis, so early expressions of interest are encouraged. If you would like to explore hosting the Festival at your institution, please complete the short Expression of Interest form here: Expression of Interest Form
STAND partners with academic and professional staff to align the festival with teaching, research, and institutional strategy. Opportunities include:
Academic Staff
- Integrate festival themes into your teaching by inviting STAND or Concern Worldwide to deliver tailored workshops (e.g. Introduction to Global Citizenship, Design for the SDGs, Imagining Better)
- Organise department events such as panels or seminars—mini-grants available
Sustainability and ESD Staff
- Align the festival with Green Campus or ESD strategies
- Co-create student/staff events linking sustainability with global justice
Student Engagement & Support Staff
- Collaborate with STAND to support student-led events, distributing mini-grants
- Promote the festival within your annual programming for societies and engagement units
Senior Leadership and Teaching & Learning Departments
- Demonstrate institutional leadership in fostering globally engaged graduates
- Host events aligned with strategic goals (e.g. inclusion, civic engagement, sustainability)
- Partner with STAND to deliver staff CPD on Global Citizenship Education (GCE) or ESD
“The exhibition animates the campus in a meaningful way. It opens our students’ eyes to their similarities with students and activists outside of TU Dublin and Ireland.”
FAQs
General questions
The STAND Global Solidarity Festival is a programme of campus activities that explore global justice, sustainability, and social change.
At the centre of the festival is a travelling outdoor exhibition. Campuses can also choose to build additional events, such as a Global Solidarity Fair (fair featuring interactive stalls hosted by NGOs and student societies), talks, workshops, film screenings or other creative activities.
STAND supports campuses that want to develop a broader festival programme, but it’s also possible to simply host the exhibition on its own.
Others decide to build a wider programme around it — for example student-led events, guest speakers, workshops, or a Global Solidarity Fair. The level of activity is flexible and can be tailored to the capacity and interests of each campus.
STAND manages the logistics of the exhibition, including delivery, installation, and removal. We also provide any required documentation for university Estates teams, such as insurance and risk assessments.
We support campuses in making the most of the exhibition by providing guidance on organising events and engaging students. Where possible, mini-grants may be available to support student-led activities connected to the festival.
STAND can also coordinate the Global Solidarity Fair on campus or collaborate with staff and student organisers to deliver it as part of the festival programme.
Students, university staff, student societies, NGOs, artists, and anyone interested in global justice and sustainability.
The exhibition is installed in a public area on campus and is free for anyone to view. Most festival events are also free to attend, although some workshops or talks may require advance registration.
The festival travels to multiple campuses across Ireland throughout the academic year and usually takes place over the course of a week. To secure dates for your campus, please contact [email protected]
Getting Involved - Students
The festival is usually hosted in partnership with a key contact on campus, such as a staff member or academic department, a Students’ Union, or a student society. If you’re interested in bringing the exhibition and festival to your campus, get in touch with the STAND team to discuss possible dates and how it could work in your institution.
Students’ Unions often play a key role in hosting the festival on campus. This might include helping to coordinate events, promoting the exhibition, supporting student organisers, or collaborating on activities such as the Global Solidarity Fair.
Student societies are encouraged to get involved by organising events connected to the festival theme, collaborating with other groups, or hosting a stall at the Global Solidarity Fair.
Students can organise events, volunteer during the festival, apply for mini-grants where available, or showcase their work at the Global Solidarity Fair. The festival is designed to create space for student ideas, creativity, and leadership on global issues.
Panels, workshops, film screenings, creative sessions, performances, or discussions connected to global issues.
Small grants are sometimes available to support student or staff-led events and ideas during the festival.
Students can join the Festival Team to support planning, promotion and events on campus.
Volunteering usually entails a small commitment before the festival and flexible shifts during festival week.
Getting Involved - Staff
Staff can support the festival in a number of ways, such as hosting the exhibition on campus, connecting it with relevant modules or research areas, organising talks or discussions, or encouraging student participation. Staff often act as the main campus contact and work with STAND to coordinate the exhibition and any additional events.
Staff can integrate festival themes into teaching, host seminars, or collaborate with STAND on workshops.
Yes — it can complement Green Campus initiatives and Education for Sustainable Development strategies.
Let’s Work Together
We invite your institution to partner with us in delivering STAND’s Global Solidarity Festival 2025–2026. Together, we can help shape a new generation of changemakers—and a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world.
Contact:
Susie Spratt
📧 [email protected]
📱 087 634 3098
🌐 www.stand.ie
In 2024, the STAND Student Festival also partnered with Go Dance for Change, an intercultural collaborative platform producing social spaces that use dance as a primary tool to connect people, to incorporate artistic and cultural exchange. This collaboration was kindly supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.
