Kindling Arts Festival adds four performance art acts to Nashville lineup

Landry Butler, GrandmaFun, Chris Strauss and Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva will perform at Nashville’s Kindling Arts Festival on July 25-26 at Darkhorse Theatre. The annual showcase is part of a 22-show, eight-venue festival built around the theme of utopias and featuring more than 150 artists.

Why it matters: - Kindling Arts Festival is giving experimental performers a platform in Nashville at a time when the event is centered on ideas about utopia, belonging, justice and joy. - The Performance Art Showcase is one of the festival’s most adventurous stages, with work that mixes comedy, multimedia, burlesque and clowning. - The festival brings together more than 150 artists across 22 shows, making it one of the city’s larger contemporary performance gatherings.

What happened: - Landry Butler, GrandmaFun, Chris Strauss and Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva are set to perform at the annual Performance Art Showcase during Kindling Arts Festival 2026. - The performances will take place at Darkhorse Theatre, 4610 Charlotte Ave. in Nashville, Tenn. - Showtimes are Saturday, July 25 at 2 p.m. and Sunday, July 26 at 4 p.m.

The details: - Landry Butler, a spoken word and multimedia artist, will present a commentary on advertising and the marketing of health and wellness. - Butler’s piece uses archetypes including a timeshare or snake-oil salesman, a radio preacher and an infomercial host. - Butler frames the placebo effect as a scientifically proven remedy that can help people create a personal utopia, one intention at a time. - Chris Strauss will perform a comedic take on “9-to-5” workplace culture. - GrandmaFun, described as an experimental burlesque artist, will bring a Mardi Gras-inspired performance centered on a Carnival Queen and backed by a trio of Filipino string musicians. - Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva will explore clowning through her character Sprinkles the Clown. - Whitcomb-Oliva’s work also draws on the history of Black circus performers and sideshow attractions.

Between the lines: - The festival’s programming leans into work that is playful but also socially pointed, using performance art to examine commerce, labor, identity and spectacle. - The utopia theme gives the festival a clear curatorial frame and suggests the event is aiming for more than entertainment. - Kindling Arts positions itself around experimental art that challenges conventional performance forms, which helps explain the range of acts on the showcase.

What's next: - Kindling Arts Festival 2026 runs Thursday, July 23 through Sunday, July 26 at eight venues. - Individual tickets and passes are available now at the festival website. - Landry Butler also shared social links at Instagram and YouTube.

The bottom line: - Nashville audiences will get four distinct performance art pieces that combine satire, spectacle and cultural commentary in one festival showcase.