COMMUNITY ART CHALLENGES

THE ART DEPARTMENT EINDHOVEN 2026 (SOLD OUT)

We couldn’t have a proper 20 Years Anniversary without showcasing also some of the beautiful and creative people in our community! For this reason, during The Art Department 2026 we will arrange a special screen where your works can be on display.
If you are an animator or an illustrator, check out below how you can join our art challenges!
This is also a chance of being a part of this year’s anniversary edition even if you won’t be able to physically join us!

THE ILLUSTRATION ART CHALLENGE

 

Create an artwork that reflects one of the themes:

✨ 20 Years Anniversary
✨ Favorite Playgrounds Festival Memory
✨ Creating Together

📌 Deadline for submissions: 22 March 2026

Guidelines:

🎨 While you’re free to use as many colours as you want, we would like it if the predominant colours were one (or more) of the following:

Magneta (RGB: 255 0 255) #ff00ff
Yellow (RGB: 228 255 3) #e4ff03
Blue (RGB 45 77 255) #2d4dff

Please post your submissions in the art-challenge thread on our Discord server.
Not a Discord user? You can also send it to maria[at]weareplaygrounds.nl

Please keep in mind that unfortunately we won’t be able to provide free festival tickets to the creators of the selected artworks that will be showcased during the festival.

 

 

THE 1SEC – ANIMATED – SHOWOFF

Theme: CELEBRATION

Create a short animation (min 1 sec) using the suggested colours and fitting the theme.

🎨 Color palette:
Black: #000000
White: #ffffff
Magneta (RGB: 255 0 255) #ff00ff
Yellow (RGB: 228 255 3) #e4ff03
Blue (RGB 45 77 255) #2d4dff

Keep in mind you don’t need to use all colours, but you do need to use these exact tones in order for your work to stand a chance of being selected.

📌 Deadline for submissions: 22 March 2026

✅ General guidelines:
•⁠ ⁠Animate on 24 fps
•⁠ ⁠Export mov or mp4
•⁠ ⁠1920 by 1080 pixels
•⁠ ⁠Audio use is allowed but no copyrighted sounds
•⁠ ⁠Use any program you want
•⁠ ⁠Use the prompt any way you like
•⁠ ⁠Email clip by the deadline to maria[at]weareplaygrounds.nl
•⁠ ⁠Add your Instagram handle in bottom right corner for credits
•⁠ ⁠By submitting your clip you give PLGR the rights to use it freely on any of their platforms, credits will be shown

Curious to see some examples of past challenges? Check out our 1sec-animated-showoff thread on Discord!

Please keep in mind that unfortunately we won’t be able to provide free festival tickets to the creators of the selected animations.

 

20 YEARS OF PLAYGROUNDS: OUR BIG BIRTHDAY BASH
are you ready to celebrate? (Thursday 16 April)
afterparty
SONY PICTURES ANIMATION (KPOP DEMON HUNTERS)
head of character animation Joshua Beveridge & visual development artist Wendell Dalit
artist talk
NATHAN FOWKES
concept artist
artist talk
BLUR
production company
artist talk
MATT NAVA (GIANT SQUID STUDIOS)
game development studio
artist talk
PERNILLE ØRUM
character designer, visual development artist
artist talk
MOONHOOD
video game studio
artist talk
RAMAN DJAFARI
illustrator, animator, filmmaker
artist talk
BORIS & NICOLAS
animators
artist talk
OLOV BURMAN
director and animator
artist talk
BLENDER STUDIO
premiere of new short Singularity
artist talk
CLAIRE KEANE
author-illustrator, visual development artist
artist talk
LIP COMARELLA
director, visual development artist, art director
artist talk
ADAM PALOIAN
director, producer, character designer
artist talk
CAT JOHNSTON
director, character designer, model maker and illustrator
artist talk
LOEK VUGS
designer, animator, teacher
artist talk
XAVIERA ALTENA
illustrator
artist talk
MAUREEN VAN DER HOUT & RACHELLE JOY SLINGERLAND
character design duo
artist talk
DIEPFRIS
concept artist
artist talk
BIANCA NAZARI (ENVAR STUDIO)
senior recruiter
artist talk
SANDRO CLEUZO
animator and character designer
artist talk
YONK
VR sculpting 3D animation studio
artist talk
ENVAR STUDIO
outsource & game studio
artist talk
REAL TALKS WITH IRIS COMPIET & LOISH
a sit-down with two industry legends
real talk
FONS SCHIEDON
director, designer
artist talk
IRIS COMPIET: FROM SKETCH TO WATER COLOR
an ode to traditional media
demo
ARTIST STUDIOS
check your favorite artists at work
artist studios
LESBIAN SIMULATOR
a VR experience by Iris van der Meule
expo
ART MARKET
print, apparal & tattoos
art market
CLIP STUDIO PAINT DEMO BY SYNTICFAYE
illustrator
demo
SKETCH SESSIONS BY DRINK AND DRAW BERLIN
live sketching experience
sketch sessions
NEXT STAGE
stage curated by the Next Talent Program
artist talk
NEXT STAGE: MURMUR ANIMATION
animation duo
artist talk
NEXT STAGE: SABER AIDARUS
director, animator
artist talk
NEXT STAGE: PIT LEMPENS
illustrator, animator
artist talk
NEXT STAGE: TESSA STEHOUWER
animator
artist talk
NEXT STAGE: JIP CROMBAG
game designer
artist talk
NEXT STAGE: LUCAS PETERSEN
2D animator, storyboarder
artist talk
OPEN STAGE: REDIVIDER STUDIO
creative studio
artist talk
OPEN STAGE: SYNTICFAYE
illustrator
artist talk
EXPO: THE SECRET OF NIMH
key pieces from one of the largest NIMH collections in Europe
expo
PANEL: DIVERSIFY YOUR SKILLS
with Georgie Holt, Bianca Nazari, Kevin Zamir Goeke and Bastien Grivet!
panel
DEMO BY LOISH
dive into Loish' digital drawing process
demo
PANEL: CREATIVITY AND HUMAN NATURE
with Spiridon Giannakis, Pernille Ørum, Lip Comarella and Atey Ghailan
panel
VPRO RADIO NOOIT MEER SLAPEN WITH IRIS COMPIET
live recording with VPRO Nooit Meer Slapen (this interview is in Dutch)
interview
ASK AWAY! Q&A WITH TAD ARTISTS
getting answers to audience questions
ask away!
WORKSHOP CREATE & PLAY BY CARDBOARDERS
16 April | create your own character!
workshop
LIVE ANIMATION WITH SANDRO CLEUZO
right before your eyes
demo
BOOKSHOP
discover art books, comics and exclusive titles
books
PLAYGROUNDS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026
where we put the art of filmmaking in the spotlight
film fest
FOOD & DRINKS BY SMAAKMAKERIJ
coffee, snacks, burgers, poké bowls and more!
food & drinks
PLAYGROUNDS 20 YEARS BUMPERS
by students from the St.Joost Master of Animation
expo
COMMUNITY ART CHALLENGES
have your works shown during TAD 2026
community
20 YEARS OF PLAYGROUNDS TREASURE HUNT