World Theatre Day (WTD) is an international observance celebrated on 27 March. It was initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute.

World Theatre Day was initiated in 1962^[1] by the International Theatre Institute (ITI). It is celebrated annually on 27 March by ITI Centres and the international theatre community. Various national and international theatre events are organized to mark this occasion. One of the most important of these is the circulation of the World Theatre Day International Message through which at the invitation of ITI, a figure of world stature shares his or her reflections on the theme of Theatre and a Culture of Peace. The first World Theatre Day International Message was written by Jean Cocteau (France) in 1962. It was first in Helsinki, and then in Vienna at the 9th World Congress of the ITI in June 1961 that President Arvi Kivimaa proposed on behalf of the Finnish Centre of the International Theatre Institute that a World Theatre Day be instituted. The proposal, backed by the Scandinavian centres, was carried with acclamation.^[2]

The 2023 International Message was entrusted to Samiha Ayoub, an Egyptian actress mainly in theater, but also active in the world of cinema and television.^[3]

World Theatre Day in 2024 is now in its 62nd edition and for the occasion the message, entitled 'Art is Peace', was written by Jon Fosse, Norwegian writer and playwright, and strongly and profoundly recalls the founding values of theatre with respect to the global community, emphasizing the peaceful and universal value of art.^[4]