Mayworks Festival 2026, Coming Soon
Join us in May.
The 41st annual Mayworks Festival of Working People & the Arts will present artists work within an honoured tradition of artistic practices engaged in social change.
We acknowledge the many people who have come before us, whose values and commitments have led to Mayworks continued presence as Canada’s largest and longest-running labour arts festival.
Engage in the artwork of our time! All programs will be free, some will require registration. Check back in April for the announcement of the festival lineup.
Meet Some of the 2026 Festival Artists
Miru Yogarajah
Paired with Justice for Truck Drivers
Miru (they/them) is a trans and Tamil filmmaker, writer, community organizer, and researcher. Their storytelling praxis is rooted in a deep commitment to care and to illuminate stories that explore the tensions between possibility and precarity.
Their films have been produced by the National Film Board of Canada, developed with CBC, and screened at festivals including the Inside Out Film Festival (2020), Regent Park Film Festival (2020), F-O-R-M Film Festival (2021), and Reel Asian Film Festival (2023). They were awarded the 2022 Hot Docs Cross Current Fund to develop their feature-length documentary Im/migrant Buyers’ Club. As a writer, they were a 2021 fellow with The Local, and they have bylines in West End Phoenix, Briarpatch Magazine, GUTS Magazine, LOGO TV, and more. Most recently, they created the zine Queer n Trans Cinema sold in bookstores across Toronto and Montreal.
They are thrilled to work with Justice for Truck Drivers to knead out labour stories, tracing the tensions, the possibilities, and ultimately, the hope of organizing.
Roann Enriquez
Paired with Anakbayan Toronto
Roann Enriquez is a Filipino-Canadian multidisciplinary writer and filmmaker based in Mississauga, Ontario. A storyteller across mediums and genres, she was previously selected for writing workshops with Diaspora Dialogues, the Playwrights Guild of Canada, and the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. Roann has developed writing projects through programs such as the Reelworld Screen Institute’s Emerging 20 Program and Tarragon Theatre’s Local Young Playwrights Unit. While at work on a novel, a play, and a feature film, she is also a story editor and script consultant for film and TV. Roann holds a Professional Program Certificate in Screenwriting from UCLA.
Speaking to her excitement about the program, Roann shared: “I want to tell more stories from the Filipino-Canadian perspective, aiming to not only increase representation from our community in the arts but to also advocate for pressing contemporary social and political issues that affect, and resonate with, the Filipino diaspora. I’m so excited to work with Anakbayan Toronto, a chapter of the largest national democratic organization of Filipino youth, to promote labour justice as a resident artist with Mayworks.”
Nima Esmailpour
2026 Guest Curator
Nima Esmailpour is a curator, writer, and art historian whose work focuses on the ontology of the image and processes of re-historicization in contemporary art practices. Nima will develop a public exhibition within the theme of Work, Debt, and Supply Chains. We look forward to sharing more about Nima’s project and process!
Ibrahim Abusitta
2026 Poster Artist
Ibrahim Abusitta is a Palestinian-Canadian visual artist based in Toronto. His painting practice examines the intersections of personal archive and political history, with a focus on cultural memory and the nuances of diasporic identity. He is the 2025 recipient of the Laura Ciruls Painting Prize. His work has been featured on the cover of Briarpatch magazine and in the book A Year on the Abyss of Genocide by Mahmoud Al Shaer (ARP Books). Abusitta has exhibited across Canada and the United States.