APAture 2026 applications are now open! (Submissions Close June 21)

Submissions are now open until June 21 at 11:59pm

APAture is an annual, month-long multidisciplinary arts festival that showcases emerging Asian American and Pacific Islander artists to an audience of nearly 1,000 in venues throughout San Francisco. It draws diverse attendees from across the Bay Area, offering critical platforms for Asian American and Pacific Islander art that uplifts those communities and, in today’s political environment, contributes necessary voices to arts & culture. The receptions are free, while all other showcases are affordably priced.

APAture is in its 27th year of supporting emerging artists from across the Bay Area! From October 17th to December 12th, we’ll be presenting three showcases in Visual, Literary, and Film arts.

This year’s theme is GENERATION. At this pivotal moment for APAture, we turn our focus toward what we inherit, what we cultivate, and what we pass on. GENERATION asks us to seed growth for the future health of our communities while honoring the artistic lineages that have brought us to this moment. As we consider what the next generation of artists will hold and shape, we also recognize our role in tending the conditions that allow them to thrive. With the health of our communities in mind, we celebrate creative inheritance as an active, collective practice—one that bridges past, present, and future through art. We invite artists to reflect on GENERATION in all its meanings: a place of ancestry, mentorship, responsibility, and renewal.

APAture is an annual multidisciplinary arts festival that showcases emerging APA artists to an audience of nearly 1,000 in venues throughout San Francisco. It draws diverse attendees from across the Bay Area, offering critical platforms for APA art that uplifts AAPI communities and, in today’s political environment, contributes necessary voices to arts & culture. The receptions are free, while all other showcases are affordably priced.

Please note that our Performing Arts, Music, and Book Arts showcases are on pause this year as we begin to explore a new direction for APAture’s future! For more information please refer to our FAQs below.