Bethel Woods Center for the Arts organises a five-day festival focused on building adaptive architectural proposals on the historic grounds of the 1969 Woodstock festival.

Act One: Staging is the first instalment of a three-year curatorial initiative that looks for design solutions to act as a foundation for unknown subsequent structures, whilst celebrating the history of the site.

This edition of BuildFest continues with the Choreography and Performance iterations in 2027 and 2028, respectively, centred on the reuse, transformation and activation of the constructions resulting from this year.

The proposal selection and workshop line-up feature leading institutions from around the US, including UCLA, Cornell University, Pratt Institute, Boston Architectural College and Princeton University.

The festival follows an open-call competition addressed to academics in design and humanities for proposals categorised into installations, activations and interventions.

BuildFest 2026: Acts of Construction – Act One: Staging takes place from 9 to 13 September 2026 at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, 200 Hurd Road, Bethel, New York 12720, USA.