Looking back now, we can see how far we've journeyed—through uncertainty, hope, and resilience.
For five years, people from different corners of the world—strangers at first—have come together to create spaces that offer more than words.
Spaces where voices find shelter.
Spaces where breath is shared like fresh air after a storm.
Spaces where care, courage, and deep listening weave invisible threads between us.
In these spaces, we have held stories of rest and struggle, of braveness in the face of fear, of lives touched by war and absence, by rebuilding and belonging.
We have gathered like around a fire, bringing our roots, our wounds, and our dreams into a shared circle—seeking not answers, but presence.
And so, for the 5th Annual Listening Hour Festival, we invite all of you once again—guides, listeners, storytellers, seekers, and wanderers—to meet under one sky, breathing together, holding each other in the vastness of a space built on trust, respect, and humanity.
We dream of creating a festival where everyone finds a place to rest, to listen, to speak without fear—whether you come carrying stories of uncertainty, of healing, or of new beginnings.
A gathering where integration is not just an idea, but a lived experience.
Where voices long silenced are welcomed with open hearts.
This year's festival will offer a carefully held rhythm of Listening Hour sessions, workshops, and panel discussions—spaces of breath, restoration, and collective exploration.
For the first time, the festival will offer spaces designed both for our existing community and for newcomers who seek a place to be heard.
We will breathe, listen, and gather strength together—amidst the beauty and the chaos, the silence and the song.
Our gathering begins on May 9th with an Opening Ceremony, and closes on May 11th with a Closing Ceremony full of reflection and renewal.
As always, the Listening Hour Festival is free of charge and open to all who wish to enter this shared space of care, bravery, and connection.
Festival Program
Friday, May 9
11:00 – 12:00 PM EDT
(17:00 - 18:00 PM CET)
Opening Ceremony
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81930642369
12:30 – 02:00 PM EDT
(18:30 - 20:00 PM CET)
Listening as an Act of Compassion
Şeniz Turan,
LH Trainer | Artivist
Playback Theatre Trainer
In this workshop, we will focus on the connection between compassion and deep listening. Together, we will experience exercises that can also be used in Listening Hour sessions.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89940423558?pwd=EJ6VFBUhUIvaTO3rCajb6VEV3VaFA7.1
Saturday, May 10
07:00 – 07:45 AM EDT
Containing the Uncontainable,
an interactive conversation between
(13:00 – 13:45 PM CET)
Jennie Kristel,
MA, REAT, RMT,
APTT
Xenia Malathraki, panel Moderator
Using the outline structure of L.H session we will discuss ways that L.H can be used in order to help us contain and support deep conversations that could be challenging. We will share examples of using it as a tool in anti-opressive work and trauma work and we'll have time to share questions and experiences.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89240860295?pwd=2LPms9hbbT0VPa2SpDT3rzcJ0GpTjs.1
08:00 – 09:30 AM EDT
Listening in Action: Weaving Listening Hour into the National Day of Listening
(14:00 – 15:30 PM CET)
Josefine Krumm, Authorized Listening Hour Trainer
Christina Hegi Kunz, Head of operations of 143.Ch
Dr. Fabienne Mathier,
Filmmaker, Psychotherapist, and founder of Mathier Film
The live Listening Hour as an integral part of a program dedicated to listening itself. Insights in the organization of this event.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87467617711?pwd=ReupiIiE10AM5aAtxe2aUsc1P52heW.1
Meeting ID: 874 6761 7711
Identification code: 119033
10:00 – 11:00 AM EDT
LH for the Tough Times
(16:00 – 17:00 PM CET)
Jonathan Fox, speaker
This session will combine a discussion for how to offer LH to communities in stress with inspirational readings to lift us up and keep us going. We will discuss strategies for action and share quotations with each other. If you wish to contribute, send me ahead of time your (short) quotation in English and the original language, and be ready to read it slowly and clearly. You can send me a reading that has sustained you, even if you cannot participate. Send your quotations to jfox137@gmail.com. This way our discussion of dealing with difficult times will be lightened by inspiration. Any number of participants are welcome.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81930642369
11:30 – 1:00 PM EDT
(17:30 – 19:00 PM CET)
Listening Hour Supervision and Peer Intervision: New Guidelines for Growth and Support
Mary Elizabeth Wheeler,
Listening Hour Guide and Trainer
Devrim Nicolò Turletti
Jennie Kristel
Are you a Listening Hour guide looking for deeper support, fresh inspiration, and a community of peers who truly understand your journey? Join us for an engaging session introducing the newly updated Supervision and Peer Intervision Guidelines! Whether you're seeking to strengthen your practice, longing for a place to share challenges and insights, or curious about how supervision and peer support can uplift and enhance your experience, this session is for you. We’ll explore the new framework together through a brief overview, an interactive panel discussion, and optional breakout groups to connect and share what’s alive for you. Come discover how the evolving Listening Hour community can support you—because even the best listeners deserve to be deeply heard.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6365025451?pwd=WmQzWE16SDVXc1dDZ1hucXFsbWtHZz09&omn=86428447845
Meeting ID: 636 502 5451
Passcode: V01C3
Passcode: 403537
14:00 – 15:00 PM EDT
Coffee break
(20:00 – 21:00 PM CET)
Xenia Malathraki, moderator
Take a break and unwind in our cozy coffee corner, where you can relax, chat, and recharge in a laid-back atmosphere.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86848205876?pwd=aeskjFTNhB1LybaLb2TvFGpeCFt3so.1
Meeting ID: 868 4820 5876
Passcode: 728531
Sunday, May 11
08:00 – 09:00 AM EDT
SHARING AS A GIFT - Reprises of LH sessions celebrating Playback Theatre 50th anniversary
(14:00 – 15:00 PM CET)
Contributors:
Beáta Somogyi, Fe Day, Karin Gisler, Lena Kalashnykova, Josefine Krumm, Soline Daccache, Wendela Kloosterman
The Centre for Playback Theatre and the Listening Hour Community Culture Committee invite you to listen to how LH Guides lived their sessions with their Playback Theatre community groups and what this brought to them too as a gift at that moment. This year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Playback Theatre and the 5th anniversary of Listening Hour. Come and join us to listen and see how we celebrate Playback Theatre and connect.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/3712704288?omn=84003183280
Meeting ID: 371 270 4288
9:30 – 10:30 AM EDT
Listening Hour as a Foundation for Reflective Practice Studies
(15:30 – 16:30 PM CET)
Warren Nebe,
founder of Drama for Life and Course Convener for Reflective Practice
Kabelo Mokgehle,
a Drama for Life graduate and current Lecturer
Drama for Life is a postgraduate department in Applied Arts. Arts Therapies and Arts Research at the University of the Witwatersrand has integrated Listening Hour as a Foundation approach to Reflective Practice Studies for 4th-year and Honours students. This deep conversation will illuminate the use, purpose, and impact of Listening Hour on pedagogy, milieu, practice, and outcomes.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84529077804?pwd=bOIbA4dYaT8MPfaFaSRj0N5nNbrTPa.1
Meeting ID: 845 2907 7804
Passcode: 225857
11:30 – 12:30 AM EDT
The listening hour journey applied to film
(17:30 – 18:30 PM CET)
Teto Mokaila,
Applied Drama and Theatre Practitioner / Actor / Filmmaker / Listening Hour Guide / MA Candidate
I aim to share how I used Listening Hour during a physical journey to take special note of an emerged story that became the subject of a short documentary I filmed in The Gambia (West Africa). The Listening Hour will constitute a brief presentation of how I used the method as well as a shared screening of the film, concluding with the sharing of emerging short stories from the tellers.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83890087368?pwd=SbdSZrr8aIs6qMm7cqxuaF3vPeVbEC.1
Meeting ID: 838 9008 7368
Passcode: 713031
Instructional video on how to use Zoom-translated captions
Program Committee
Xenia Malathraki
Kabelo Mokgehle
Gunjan
Dixit
Polina Novikova
Volunteers
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Radhika Jain
India
Lucky Moeketsi
South Africa
Nike Brandt
Denmark
We are very grateful to Devrim Nicolo Turletti and Andrea Sandoval for preparing the instructional video on how to use Zoom-translated captions.