European Festivals Association (EFA)
Domains of activity: arts and culture, education.
Formally established as a Non-profit organisation in Geneva, Switzerland in 1952.
Mission: The aim of the European Festivals Association is to support festivals, promote festivals’ significance and their important role in international cultural cooperation and societies today. Therefore, EFA seeks primarily to:
- coordinate the efforts of its members;
- facilitate cooperation and co-production;
- set common policy;
- promote multidisciplinary tendencies;
- underline the state of art in society;
- act prominently in the wider political debate.
Membership in other international networks: Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne (REMA), Culture Action Europe (CAE), International Network of Contemporary Performing Arts (IETM), International/European Music Council (IMC/EMC), European League of Employers' Associations in the Performing Arts sector (Pearle), Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals (AAPAF), On-The-Move (International mobility information service for the cultural sector), A Soul for Europe (Initiative for cooperation between civil society and policy-makers). The EFA also set up the European House for Culture.
Collaboration with organisations in other countries: The European Festivals Association collaborates broadly with its members and with organisations in other European countries. This through: 1. its networking activities, 2. its flagship projects, such as “Open The Door”, the FestLab for Creativity and Innovation, the Arts Festivals’ Declaration on Intercultural Dialogue, as well as the EFA BOOKS series and the European Atelier for Young Festival Managers; and 3. in projects launched by other organisations (i.e. with partner networks such as A Soul for Europe, LabforCulture, ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts), AAPAF (Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals), PANSA (Performing Arts Network of South Africa) etc.).
The European House for Culture, initiated by EFA in 2008 and launched in 2009 is an initiative through which EFA collaborates and facilitates collaboration, at European level and beyond. What’s more, EFA was contributing to the launching of the Platform for Intercultural Europe and is a member of the EU Platform on ‘Access to Culture’, sits on the Board of the Platform and chairs the working group on “Audience/Participation”. In this function EFA inputs strongly on cultural policy making at European level.
Especially through its flagship project EFA collaborates closely and successfully with the European Commission and its thematic European Years (2008: European Year for Intercultural Dialogue; 2009: European Year for Creativity and Innovation; 2010: European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion).
All these activities feed into EFA’s main mission: to support the broad recognition of arts and culture and their important role for societal development in Europe and beyond. Among the key objectives are: the enhancement of intercultural dialogue, the fostering of creative and innovative talents, the improvement of access to culture in general, the support of mobility of cultural operators and artists etc.
Interest/involvement in European and EU political matters: EFA has a crucial role to play in the broader cultural and political framework. One of EFA’s roles therefore is to lay the political grounds for the development of culture in Europe, in partnership with colleague networks and initiatives. Representing the voice of Europe’s most diverse festivals, EFA emphasises the artistic, political and social role and the common goals of festivals. Therefore it is one of our priorities to strengthen the relationship with bodies including the representatives of the Directorate General for Education and Culture of the European Commission and the Committee on Education and Culture of the European Parliament.
In this framework, as mentioned above, EFA is a member of the EU Platform on ‘Access to Culture’, sits on the Board of the Platform and chairs the working group on “Audience/Participation”. In this function EFA inputs strongly on cultural policy making at European level. Together with the initiative “A Soul for Europe”, EFA engages actively for the enhancement of civil society dialogue.
Since 2008, EFA has collaborated closely and successfully with the European Commission, different Directorates-General (mainly with DG Education and Culture, but also, in 2010, DG for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities) and its thematic European Years (2008: European Year for Intercultural Dialogue; 2009: European Year for Creativity and Innovation; 2010: European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion).
In this context EFA represents the voice of culture in general and the voice of festivals in particular and advocates for the recognition of their important contribution to increasing the broad public’s awareness of societal and political issues at stake in Europe and of concern of the European Union. Convinced about the potential of arts, culture and festivals, EFA embraces the objectives of the European Commission (i.e. its Cultural Programme, its European Years) in its activities.