FAME Festival

What FAME Festival does

FAME Festival (Festival where Arts Meet Empowerment) is a Brussels-based, non-profit performing arts festival founded in August 2021 by the Alderwoman for Culture of the City of Brussels, with Camille Khoury as artistic director. The festival's core offering is a single annual, week-long multidisciplinary program held in September across roughly ten venues in Brussels (centered on Théâtre des Riches-Claires), featuring theater, circus, concerts, film screenings, conferences, and workshops curated exclusively for women and gender minority artists. The 2022 first edition presented 43 activities across 10 venues, expanding to 50 activities across 11 venues in 2023 with a reported 70% average attendance; the 2024 and 2025 editions continued the annual cadence under themes 'Futur·e·s' and 'toustes à table' respectively, and a 2026 fifth edition has been announced under the theme 'G(uerre) point'.

The festival operates a hybrid revenue and funding model. Earned revenue comes from a conscious tiered pricing structure: individual shows are priced €5-€21 on a pay-what-you-can basis, festival passes are €40-€60, and 75% of programming is free, including all talks, workshops, and access for Article 27 holders, asylum seekers, homeless individuals, and undocumented people. The majority of the operating budget is funded through public institutional support from the City of Brussels, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Belgian National Lottery, and visit.brussels. Distribution is via online ticketing (shop.utick.net), on-site sales one hour before shows, and venue box offices.

FAME is governed as an ASBL (non-profit) under Les Riches-Claires Asbl and operates with a small core team of approximately five people who work part-year, supported by an extended cast of technical and production staff. Beyond programming, the festival runs the 'Where' mediation/outreach project, partnering with schools (e.g., Fra Angelico College), social organizations (Nativitas, R.A.P.A.), and activist collectives to engage audiences otherwise excluded from mainstream cultural programming. A multi-year strategic partnership with Écarlate la Compagnie (2022-2026) supports five co-produced knowledge-transmission projects. The organization has publicly acknowledged budgetary pressure and signaled an intent to reinvent its format ahead of the 2026 edition.

Name

FAME Festival

Legal name

Les Riches-Claires Asbl

Website

https://famefestival.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

FAME Festival is a Brussels-based non-profit annual performing arts festival, founded in 2021, that programs theater, dance, film, and workshops by women and gender minority artists across roughly ten venues each September.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts Festival

NAICS

Performing Arts Companies (7111), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (711310), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (71131)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cultural & Community Festivals (Ticketed) (THAJAFAI), Music Festival Organizers & Promoters (MPAGAAAB), Film Festivals & Festival Organizers (MPADAKAD)

Keywords

• Performing arts festival
• Feminist arts programming
• Multidisciplinary theater
• Cultural mediation
• Live performance events

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Revenue from tiered conscious pricing model where audiences pay what they can afford. Festival passes available at €40, €50, or €60. Individual show tickets range from €5 to €21.
2. Public Funding and Institutional Support: The festival receives support from City of Brussels, Wallonia-Brussels Federation, visit.brussels, National Lottery, and is an initiative of the Alderwoman for Culture of Brussels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

FAME Festival is an annual multidisciplinary performing arts festival held each September in Brussels, presenting theater, circus, dance, music, film screenings, conferences, and workshops curated to promote the work of women and gender minority artists. Tickets are sold via a conscious tiered pricing model (€5-€21 per show, €40-€60 festival passes), with 75% of programming offered free, and access is supported through partnerships with Article 27. The festival operates across 10+ Brussels venues and is accompanied by a 'Where' mediation/outreach project.

Product overview

FAME Festival is a single annual event, not a platform. The core offering is the annual multidisciplinary performing arts festival held in September in Brussels, featuring theater, circus, performances, concerts, film screenings, conferences, and workshops. Supporting services include a tiered ticketing system, venue access across multiple Brussels locations, catering services, and comprehensive accessibility measures. The festival also includes the 'Where' outreach project for audience engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• FAME Festival (Annual Performing Arts Festival) Annual multidisciplinary performing arts festival held each September in Brussels, featuring theater, circus, dance, music, film screenings, conferences, and workshops curated to promote work by women and gender minority artists.
• Festival Pass Multi-show access pass for the annual FAME Festival, available at conscious tiered prices of €40, €50, or €60. Pass holders must book each show separately.

Quantifiable outcome

• 70% average attendance rate across programming
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• City of Brussels (Administration), Alderwoman for Culture - Delphine HoubacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021FAME is an initiative of the Alderwoman for Culture of the City of Brussels, created in August 2021. The city provides institutional support and funding. With the support of Faouzia Hariche, Alderman for Public Education, Youth and Human Resources.
• Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor institutional funder and supporter of the festival. Provides ongoing funding and recognition as part of the Brussels cultural ecosystem.
• visit.brusselsmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerOfficial partner for tourism and Brussels promotion. Collaborates on promoting the festival to visitors and tourists in Brussels.
• Les Riches-ClairescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMain venue and festival center. The asbl hosts the festival headquarters and primary programming space. The festival is hosted by this venue.
• La BellonemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey venue partner hosting festival performances and events. Organized three days with F.(s) collective on gender inequality in 2018.
• CinematekmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFilm venue partner for screenings and cinematographic programming.
• Centre Culturel BruegelmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenue partner for festival programming.
• Espace MaghmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenue partner hosting festival events, particularly for Mediterranean and North African cultural programming.
• C12majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerClub venue partner hosting party and nightlife programming elements of the festival.
• Globe AromamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural venue partner focused on migration and cultural diversity, hosting festival events.
• Montagne MagiquemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTheater venue partner with accessibility features hosting festival performances.
• Tour à PlombmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural center venue hosting festival events and performances.
• Nativitas Social RestaurantcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial restaurant founded in 1975 by Monica Nève. Partner for 2025 mediation projects. Provides food access and social integration services. Part of the festival's 'Where' outreach project.
• R.A.P.A. (Recherche-Action sur la Psychiatrie et les Alternatives)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociation founded in 1980 working on mental health alternatives. Partner for 2025 mediation projects as part of the festival's outreach programming.
• Fra Angelico CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational institution partnering on the 'Where' mediation project. Part of new educational movement in Brussels promoting 21st century education.
• Article 27majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProvides free access to cultural events for asylum seekers, homeless people, and undocumented individuals through the Carte Article 27 program.
• Écarlate la CompagniecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrussels-based theater company founded in 2009 working on gender equality in performing arts. Collaborating with FAME from 2022-2026 on 5 projects combining artistic creation and knowledge transmission on women* representation in performing arts in FWB. First project was 'The Manx Cat Project' in 2022, second was 'Celles qui jouent' podcast series in 2024.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Brighton Festival: England's largest annual multi-arts festival, overlapping with FAME on the broad 'multidisciplinary arts festival' axis with strong community programming.
• Wiener Festwochen: Vienna's premier annual theater and performance festival, broadly comparable in curatorial ambition, city-based multi-venue structure, and contemporary-arts emphasis.
• Festival d'Avignon: France's flagship performing arts festival; much larger and broader in scope than FAME but shares the multi-venue, multidisciplinary performing-arts festival DNA.
• Edinburgh Festival Fringe: The world's largest performing arts festival; useful as a scale benchmark for FAME's multi-venue performing-arts festival model, though vastly larger in scope, attendance, and duration.
• Holland Festival: Amsterdam's large-scale annual international performing arts festival spanning theater, dance, music, and opera, comparable to FAME at the national-festival tier.

Direct peers

• Fierce Festival: Birmingham (UK) live arts festival exploring identity, gender, and sexuality through contemporary performance — a strong thematic twin to FAME's feminist/inclusive lens.
• Kunstenfestivaldesarts: Brussels-based annual international performing arts festival (theater, dance, performance) that is the closest geographic and categorical peer to FAME — multi-venue, multidisciplinary, contemporary arts — though not feminist-curated.
• Performatik: Brussels biennial performing arts festival curated by Kaaitheater, sharing FAME's multi-venue, multidisciplinary performing-arts framing in the same capital city.

Regional players

• SPIELART Festival: Munich-based biennial international festival for performing and visual arts, comparable to FAME on contemporary performing-arts curation with a strong thematic/social-issues lens.
• Festival de Liège: Belgian performing arts festival operating in Wallonia; shares francophone Belgian DNA and multidisciplinary performing-arts programming, though anchored in Liège rather than Brussels.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/famefestival
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/famefestival

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FAME Festival