For more than two decades, New Haven’s International Festival of Arts & Ideas has brought theater, dance and music artists—as well as great thinkers and influencers—to the city from around the globe for a multi-week celebration in venues throughout the city.

But in recent years, its international sensibility has been recalibrated, looking inward as well as out, reflecting more of the diverse community of New Haven in a deeper and more meaningful way, informed the festival’s leaders.

“For the last few years, we have been finding the international through the lens of those who are here already,” said Shelley Quiala, executive director of the festival.

Quiala noted New Haven’s many multi-cultural communities, which include those with roots in Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Italy, Asia and other countries, as well as the African American community and its global diaspora.

This year’s festival—its 28th—will take place June 10 to 25 at indoor and outdoor venues around the city as well as online for many events. It will mark the return of a fuller festival line-up that began to emerge last year after the height of the pandemic, which had severely limited programming for two years.

The change in the festival’s approach to programming began in earnest upon Quiala’s hiring in 2020. The pandemic slowed the full execution of the mission, limiting the festival to only virtual shows in 2020 and limited in-person events only on the New Haven Green with socially distanced seating in 2021.

Last year, in-person indoor shows returned to the Shubert, university and Iseman theaters; the College Street Music Hall; and other venues. This June, in-person events will be held at indoor and outdoor events around the city, mostly free, and significantly on the New Haven Green.

Though the pandemic slowed transformative goals, it also allowed the festival team time to make a deeper connection in the neighborhoods of …[CONTINUED]