In the beginning of 2008 the European Festivals Association, in conjunction with hundreds of signing parties, committed to the promotion of intercultural dialogue with the Arts Festivals’ Declaration of Intercultural Dialogue. The Declaration has traveled the world monitoring the immense efforts festivals make to fulfill their commitment.
The following epilogue was commonly launched by arts festivals and European Commissioner for Culture Ján Figel’ on 17 November 2008 in Paris on the occasion of the official closing conference of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008.
A festival is a unique “occasion for meeting different people and different cultures. Together with artists who are real masters of communication through art, a festival is a strong builder of bridges between different cultures - and even between civilizations!” - Ján Figel’, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth.
Pursuing the vision of festival pioneers who firmly believed in a Europe without cultural borders, and having endorsed the principles of the Arts Festivals’ Declaration on Intercultural Dialogue (which was initiated and disseminated by the European Festivals Association), hundreds of signatory arts festivals in Europe and the world will act as powerful messengers for a peaceful and free exchange among people and the respect for cultural diversity also beyond 2008 – the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. The European Festivals Association will continue its core mission of mobilising festivals across the world to take up the challenge of establishing an effective dialogue between cultures with renewed energy.
Millions of citizens will continue to cross new bridges built by festivals, thereby demonstrating the importance of dialogue between cultures in a globalising world.
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