European Festivals Association

🥳 Exciting News! What a privilege and meaningful way to close the year with this final gathering: During the "EFA Members Catch Up", we were delighted to welcome 10 new members to our festivals network! Through our Joining Hands and Hearts initiative, where one EFA Member supports a colleague festival in Ukraine to join the network, the Divine Comedy Festival extended its support to Ukraine Fringe. 💛 🤝 A warm welcome to: Festival Internacional de Piano de Oeiras (Portugal) Festival Literature sveta - Fabula - Beletrina (Slovenia) SPRING Performing Arts Festival (The Netherlands) Turkish State Theatres (Turkey) Vincenza Opera Festival (Italy) ReMusica Festival (Kosovo) Sounds of the Dolomites - Trentino Marketing (Italy) DOKUFEST (Kosovo) Creative Island (UK) Ukraine Fringe (Ukraine)

We are concerned about the rising political intervention by governments in the work of cultural organisations and attacks on artistic freedom in European member states.  Joining leading voices from across Europe, EFA has recently endorsed two letters addressed to the European institutions advocating for concrete actions to safeguard culture in its diversity from attacks, constraints and bans. 📄 Read Culture Action Europe members' letter here: https://lnkd.in/d3_z7u_t 👉🏼 Read and sign the petition 'RESISTANCE NOW: FREE CULTURE' by the European Theatre Convention, Opera Europa, Prospero – Extended Theatre platform and Wiener Festwochen GesmbH, uniting over 200 organisations and artists from 39 countries, representing 180 major national theatres, operas, festivals, and performing arts venues: https://lnkd.in/eRJt_kuf

Congratulations to the winning projects of the Europe Beyond Access (EBA) call: ✨ Starting With the Limbs by Annie Hanauer and l'Autre Maison ✨ Horn Fuckers by Diana Niepce ✨ Layers by Katarzyna Żeglicka ✨ In AD Orchestra (Audio Description Orchestra) by Sindri Runudde Led by artists with disabilities, these projects will receive co-production support and presentation opportunities at venues or festivals hosted by EBA partners. Discover more: https://lnkd.in/djY5psYb? The European Festivals Association is collaborating with the four-year Europe Beyond Access programme as an associated partner, committed to widening cultural access across Europe. #EuropeBeyondAccess #CreativeEurope

Attention cultural organisations out there! The latest Creative Europe #Call for Cooperation Projects is now open. If one these objectives aligns with your vision, this call is for you: ✔️ Foster transnational collaboration in the cultural sector ✔️ Support the creation, circulation and innovation of European artistic content ✔️ Encourage the development and implementation of new practices 🗓️ Apply until 13 May 2025 👉 Learn more: https://europa.eu/!tMt87X

The European Commission published the 2nd call for proposals under the Creative Europe programme targeting culture in and for Ukraine. The call will finance 3 topics: 🔹 Supporting Ukrainian artists and cultural organisations to co-create with their peers and showcase their art and works in Ukraine and in Creative Europe participating countries - 2 million EUR for one project 🔹 Fostering Ukrainians’ access to culture and cultural heritage - 2 million EUR for one project 🔹 Preparing the post-war recovery of the Ukrainian cultural and creative sectors - 1 million EUR for one project 📅 Deadline for submitting applications: 6 February 2025 🔗https://lnkd.in/eUENEAAT? @𝐸𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛

#FridayReads Explore The Festival Academy toolkits! 🌟 The Festival Academy, an initiative of the European Festivals Association, has been developing a series of toolkits designed to empower and inspire festival makers and cultural professionals. 📚 What’s included? Insights into current trends, industry examples and contextual knowledge across 9 evolving topics, tailored to meet the challenges and opportunities faced by the sector today. New additions to the series include: 𝑭𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒔, 𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑭𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 and 𝑭𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑸𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒓* 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔. 🔗 Read the toolkits here: https://lnkd.in/d853Xefa

The year’s final EFACTS is out! Our December #newsletter highlights: 🟣 EFA Member Festivals in December 🟡 Takeaways from the Berlin Conference 2024 🔴 Inspiring stories from "Count Me In!" - Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Belonging in the seat of arts festivals 🟣 Discover the new CARE Project 🟡 An Open Call from The Festival Academy and other #news! 🔗 Read here: https://lnkd.in/dZupeVmq

𝐄𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄 – 𝐀 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 For two decades, the annual Berlin Conference has brought policymakers, festival makers, artists, and civil society together to explore the role of culture in shaping a united Europe. On the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and amidst the ongoing complex interplay of conflicts, polarising geopolitics and economic tensions, it was a moment to recall Jacques Delors' call for a "Soul for Europe." Explore Simon Mundy's reflections on its evolution and the involvement of the European Festivals Association. 👉 Read on the EFA website: https://lnkd.in/d7bB-7F8?

#FridayReads 🖼️ There have been several artistic interventions, militant actions and vandalism in #museums, sparking global headlines this year. This is a phenomenon that Anne Bessette, Doctor in Sociology and Researcher at CERLIS, has been studying. In an interview for our e-magazine Eye-to-Eye, Bessette examines the intentions, public reactions and historical context of these actions. Read here: https://lnkd.in/dA2iqNSi

Culture for Mental Health – CARE 💚 CARE: A project exploring the intersection of arts, culture and mental health for a healthier future. It aims to offer structural and individual solutions, using cultural participation as a catalyst for health promotion, resilience and social inclusion. Read here: https://lnkd.in/dm-Xg2Cj EFA is part of the international consortium led by Centrul Cultural Clujean and joined by 5 other partners across Europe, including experts from the cultural, health, educational and business sectors. The project is funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and will be implemented over 3 years. The official kick-off meeting took place this week in Vienna. More news will follow 🔜 Culture Action Europe (Belgium), Društvo Asociacija (Slovenia), Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture - NDPC (Latvia), ARTS for HEALTH AUSTRIA (Austria), Bozar (Belgium) 📷BarbaraMair_AfHA at Kulturhaus Brotfabrik #CARE #MentalHealth #CultureForMentalHealth