WATER FESTIVAL 2027
INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE COMPETITION
WATER SPEAKS ALL LANGUAGES
Festival date: March 19, 2027
Location: Rogaška Slatina, Slovenia
Organiser: Water Agency Association
Submission deadline: January 31, 2027
FESTIVAL PURPOSE
The lack of clean drinking water is a problem affecting an increasing number of people around the world. As the population grows rapidly, the amount of available drinking water is shrinking, while water pollution is increasing. Water is therefore one of humanity’s most important shared resources: it knows no borders and connects people, nature, places and cultures.
Festival VODA 2027 aims to raise awareness of the careful and responsible use of water and to encourage creativity on the theme of water. Under the title WATER SPEAKS ALL LANGUAGES, we want to inspire children and young people to think of water as a vital natural resource, a source of life and a shared responsibility for us all.
Through artistic expression—music, literature, visual arts and video creation—the festival aims to highlight the importance of water, the need to protect it, and the consequences of water scarcity and pollution. Participants may explore drinking water, rivers, lakes, seas, rain, snow, droughts, floods, climate change, the protection of water resources, or water as a symbol of life, journeys, change and connection in their works.
COMPETITION CATEGORIES
Participants may submit their work in one or more categories:
| Field | Categories | Entry |
|---|---|---|
| Visual arts | Kindergarten; 1st educational cycle; 2nd educational cycle; 3rd educational cycle; special-needs primary school programme; secondary school | Drawing, painting or another visual-art work on the theme of water. |
| Literature | 1st educational cycle; 2nd educational cycle; 3rd educational cycle; special-needs primary school programme; secondary school | Poem, essay, short story or another literary form on the theme of water. |
| Music | No age categories | Performance of a musical composition on the theme of water or an original musical creation. |
| Video | No age categories | Original video content on the theme of water. |
Explanation: 1st educational cycle = grades 1–3; 2nd educational cycle = grades 4–6; 3rd educational cycle = grades 7–9 of primary school.
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS
- The festival is open to educational institutions, individuals and groups from Slovenia and abroad.
- Participants under the age of 18 must submit consent from a parent or guardian.
- Each institution (kindergarten or school) may submit a maximum of three works in each competition category. In music and video, where there are no age categories, an institution may submit a maximum of three entries in each field.
- Each group or class may submit one work in each field, and each individual may submit one work in each field.
- Entries must be original works created by the participants. Mentors may guide the creative process, but the final work must be created by the children or young people whose names are on the entry.
- Entries that are incomplete or submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
Originality of works:
All submitted works must be original creations by the participants. Works created or generated wholly or partly using generative artificial intelligence (AI) are not permitted. AI must also not be used to create essential content, visual-art, music or video elements of a submitted work.
HOW TO REGISTER AND SUBMIT ENTRIES
Each participant must complete the online registration and entry form, which will be published on the Water Agency Association website. The completed and signed entry form, together with the work, must be submitted electronically no later than 31 January 2027.
Entries must be submitted in the following formats:
- musical works: MP3 audio files or video recordings in MP4, MOV or AVI format;
- literary works: PDF;
- visual-art works: high-quality photographs or scans in JPG/JPEG format;
- video entries: MP4, MOV or AVI.
For music entries, participants may perform an existing composition on the theme of water or submit their own original composition. For original works, the composers and lyricists must be clearly identified. For video entries, the applicant is responsible for ensuring that the necessary rights have been obtained for any music, photographs and other elements used.
For literary works written in a language other than Slovenian or English, an English translation is encouraged to facilitate international evaluation. The translation will not be judged as a separate work.
JUDGING CRITERIA
| Field | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Visual arts | creativity, originality, visual expression, technical execution, impact and relevance to the theme |
| Literature | originality, creativity, literary expression, impact, personal perspective and relevance to the theme |
| Music | interpretation or originality, musicianship, performance, expressiveness and relevance to the theme |
| Video | originality of the idea, content, technical execution, visual and audio quality, impact and relevance to the theme |
When visual-art and literary entries are assessed, the participant’s age or educational cycle will be taken into account. Creativity, independence and personal expression are valued more highly than technical perfection alone.
JURIES
Entries will be assessed by expert juries for literature, visual arts, music and video. The composition of the juries for Festival VODA 2027 will be published on the Water Agency Association website. The juries’ decisions are final.
FESTIVAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE
- prof. dr. Jože Lipnik
- dr. Ana Koritnik
- mag. Nataša Koražija
- Jože Cvetko
ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS AND AWARDS
- The winners and award recipients will be announced at the closing event of Festival VODA 2027, which will take place in March 2027 in Rogaška Slatina.
- In the visual-art and literary categories, the expert juries will select the best works within the announced age categories. As a rule, awards will be given in each category for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.
- In music and video, the best entries will be selected without division into age categories.
- From among the highest-scoring entries, the expert jury will also select an overall winner in each of the four competition fields: visual arts, literature, music and video.
- The overall winner in each field will receive the Festival VODA 2027 crystal trophy.
- Authors or performers who achieve 1st, 2nd or 3rd place will receive an award certificate for their ranking; all other participants will receive a certificate of participation in Festival VODA 2027.
- The expert juries may, at their discretion, also award special recognitions for originality, creativity, impact or particular quality of an entry.
- Selected and award-winning works may be presented at the closing event, at an exhibition, on the Water Agency Association website and in other presentations of Festival VODA 2027.
AUTHORSHIP, CONSENTS AND DATA PROTECTION
By submitting an entry, the participant or their legal representative confirms that the submitted work is original and that its use does not infringe the rights of third parties. Appropriate consents must be obtained for minor participants and for the publication of identifiable persons. The organiser may use submitted works for non-commercial purposes to present the competition, the festival and the activities of the Water Agency Association, while copyright remains with the authors. Personal data will be processed solely for the purposes of conducting the competition and publishing the results, in accordance with applicable regulations.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Water Agency Association | festival@vodnaagencija.org | www.vodnaagencija.org
WATER SPEAKS ALL LANGUAGES – let young people tell their story about water through image, word, music or film.
