Improvention

Overview

Improvention is Australia's original and largest gathering of improvisers, drawing players from Australasia and around the globe to Canberra for a week of workshops, performances, and social events. Run by Impro ACT under artistic director Nick Byrne, the festival has operated since 2008 and is known to the general public as the Canberra International Improv Festival. Its structure centers on multi-day workshop intensives led by guest format-creating tutors, with participants inventing and then performing original formats in mainstage shows on the Friday and Saturday nights, alongside lighter inclusive shows, jams, and late-night festival club programming earlier in the week.

The 2026 edition, branded "Impro INvention" and running December 7-13, introduces a "between-years" model after the festival shifted toward a biennial cadence. Participation is open to anyone who has completed at least a foundational improv course: improvisers buy multi-day packages (three, four, or five day intensives) that guarantee a spot in a workshop and a mainstage performance opportunity, plus admission to shows and an expanded social and networking program that includes Canberra tours and a Sunday summer party. Guest tutors are drawn internationally and announced closer to the festival.

Sources

• Impro INvention 2026 Participant Page, impro.com.au
• Impro ACT homepage
• Improvention festival returns to Canberra, The Canberra Times