100 festivals participate in Arts Festivals Summit 2018 in Ljubljana
From 11 to 13 April, over 100 festival makers and met in Ljubljana for annual Arts Festivals Summit of the European Festivals Association, hosted by the Ljubljana Festival. 3 intense to exchange with peers and representatives of city councils, tourism organisations and cultural institutions from all over Europe.
The Arts Festivals Summit gathers a community of festival from around the world with a diversity of sizes, artistic genres, target audiences and artistic programmes. All participants enjoyed the beauty of Ljubljana and great artistic performances during the 33rd Slovenian Music Days.
FESTIVALS AND CITIES COLLABORATION
The Arts Festivals Summit’s theme was The [Herit]AGE of the ARTS – Audiences in the heart of the places. Festivals brought together thousands of audiences and visitors within cities every year, creating an added value to a city’s offer and community development. 8 International speakers shared their view on collaboration between festivals and cities to stimulate social cohesion among citizens on 12 April.
Next to inspiring presentations and conversations, EFA launched a joint declaration with EUROCITIES inviting mayors and festival makers to join forces in highlighting the importance of arts and culture in shaping communities.
FESTIVALS AND TOURISM COLLABORATION
Linked to the topic of cultural heritage, EFA also invited stakeholders from the tourism sector. Festivals bring destinations alive and provide great content which the tourism industry can use in their promotion. The pre-meeting on 11 April dived into this topic and aimed to explore how festivals can better collaborate with tourism organisations.
Speakers at the Arts Festivals Summit 2018 were:
• Airan Berg | Artistic Director of the Festival der Regionen
• Anita Debaere |Director of PEARLE Live Performance Europe
• Annabelle Van Nieuwenhuyse | Moderator, Point.Five Cultural Arts
• Annelies storms | Deputy Mayor for Culture, Tourism and Events, City of Ghent
• Barbara Gessler | Head of Unit DG EAC D2 Culture & Creativity, Creative Europe
• Barbara Jaki | Director of National Gallery of Slovenia
• Carlos Pinto Sá | Mayor of the City of Évora & Member of the Committee of the Regions
• Catherine Magnant | Advisor, Head of the Task-Force of the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage, European Commission
• Ceyda Berk-Söderblom | Co-founder and Director at MiklagardArts, Atelier Alumni & studio Aleppo (Helsinki)
• Darko Brlek | Artistic and General Director Ljubljana Festival
• Dieter Boyer | Senior Advisor to the City Councillor and State Minister for Arts, Science and Sports of Vienna
• Doris Pack | Former Chair EP Culture Committee
• Geert Cochez | Deputy CEO of visit.brussels
• Hermina Kovačič | Communciation expert and Director Luksuz
• Jan Briers | President European Festivals Association (EFA)
• Mateja Demšič | Head of Department for Culture, City of Ljubljana
• Peter Bossman | European Committee of the Regions & Mayor of Piran
• Petra Stušek | Managing Director of Ljubljana Tourism and Vice-president of European Cities Marketing Association
• Philippe Kern | Founder and Managing Director of KEA, European Affairs
• Simon Mundy | Poet, novelist, biographer & broadcaster of Present Arts
• Sjoerd Feitsma | Deputy Mayor of the City of Leeuwarden
• Zoran Janković | Mayor of Ljubljana
Photo gallery: https://ljubljanafestival.si/en/press-en/press-photos/?gc=92
Photos
