Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe - Deadline 17 Feb '17

British Arts Festivals Association in partnership with European Festivals Association

Applications are now open for the 2017-18 EFFE

The Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe (EFFE) Label offers international recognition for festivals’ excellence in their daily work across Europe. The European Festivals Association (EFA), in close partnership with 28 EFFE Hubs (the programme’s contact points all over Europe), aims with the EFFE initiative to link festivals that are deeply committed to the arts and their communities across Europe and offer a one-stop-gateway to Europe’s rich festival landscape for citizens worldwide. The first edition (2015-16) of the EFFE Label and Award recognised 761 festivals from 31 countries, and 12 of the most trend-setting European festivals receiving an EFFE Award.

Please look at www.effe.eu and browse through Europe’s rich artistic offer.

The European Festivals Association is pleased to announce they have been successful in gaining funding from the European Union to continue the Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe project. As a biennial initiative, following on from the pilot (edition one) in 2015-16, applications for inclusion in edition two 2017-18 are now open.

The deadline for applying for the EFFE 2017-18 Label is 17 February 2017 and your festival is invited to apply.

A jury of your peers – all UK festival experts, will adjudicate the UK applications, which are then ratified by an international jury, who also have in their gift the EFFE Awards.

The application categories for the 2017-18 Label remain the same as for the first edition:
•Describe how the festival contributes to the advancement of artistic innovation and excellence
•Describe how the festival involves/benefits the community
•Describe how your festival engages on the European and International stages.

But useful additional information has been provided which can be read on the EFFE website.

For your application to be successful and for your festival to be awarded the edition two Label and considered for an edition two Award, you need to show a commitment in all three categories, though the Label will be awarded for one category.

The EFFE Label and Award winners benefit from the recognition of their work and values, increased visibility (website and EFFE Guide), new networking opportunities both face-to-face and online, and broader connections to the European wide artistic community.

EFA believes that it is an important advantage for Europe’s festivals to be recognised by their peers and the European Union for their outstanding artistic quality and community involvement. The initiative invites artists, directors, managers and audiences worldwide to discover Europe’s very best, most creative festivals in a festival journey through Europe’s diversity.

All information on EFFE and how to apply can be found at www.effe.eu

About the European Festivals Association (EFA) and Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe (EFFE):

The EFA is the umbrella organisation for festivals across Europe and beyond representing about 100 festivals, national festival associations and cultural networks from 40 countries.

The EFFE was initiated by the EFA in 2014 to showcase those festivals across Europe which are doing the most exciting and innovative work. With the ultimate ambition to make the guide both comprehensive and the gold standard for festival and cultural tourism across Europe, additionally the EFFE aims to create a coalition between festivals that share similar ambitions. The EFFE is co-financed by the European Union.

EFFE 2015-2016 results:
•897 festivals applied for the label
•760 received the label
•31 countries are represented, all 28 Member States and 3 non-member European countries
•12 festivals received high-profile awards
•8 high-profile personalities represented the International Festival Jury
•24 Festival Hubs, our national representatives, developed and promoted the project at national level
•+100 Festival Hub Experts, our festival insiders, evaluated applications at national level
•1 inspirational EFFE Guide, a book that deepens the knowledge of the festival sector & presents the Festivals receiving the EFFE Label and EFFE award
•1 online platform showcases all of these festivals, increasing citizens’ access to Europe’s cultural diversity
•1 award ceremony in Théâtre de la Ville in Paris celebrated all label and award recipients with over 300 guests

EFFE UK HUB CONTACT:
Kim Hart
effe@artsfestivals.co.uk
British Arts Festivals Association: www.artsfestivals.co.uk

BAFA is the national membership association for Arts Festivals in UK
EFFE is an initiative of the European Festivals Assocation and is co-financed by the European Union

For more information visit http://www.effe.eu/