EFFE – Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe announced the festivals receiving the EFFE Label 2015-2016, honouring Europe’s finest festivals. Following a process of intense evaluation by national experts and an international jury, 761 festivals from 31 countries have been selected to be part of the first generation of EFFE Label recipients. All EFFE Label festivals can be accessed on the EFFE website. A comprehensive online Guide to the selected festivals will be available in early summer.

EFFE, initiated by the European Festivals Association (EFA), is the portal for citizens and for professionals to discover and get involved in Europe’s festivals. It is a new international festival platform connecting festivals that are deeply committed to the arts, their communities and European values. The platform invites audiences worldwide to access up-to-date festival information and participate in festivals across Europe. Above all EFFE recognises the excellent work these festivals are doing in their local context on a daily basis all across Europe.

Following an open call to apply for the EFFE Label 2015-2016 launched in summer 2014, hundreds of festivals submitted applications and demonstrated their devotion to three EFFE Label criteria: artistic commitment, community involvement and a festival’s international and global outlook. National experts, appointed by the EFFE Hubs, the platform’s national contact points reaching out to festivals in each country, scored the applications and presented the findings to an international jury which nominated the EFFE Label 2015-2016 recipients in May 2015.

“We are glad to be able to say that the EFFE Labels 2015-2016 make up the first generation of EFFE Label recipients that stand for artistic quality and have a significant impact on the local, national and international level. The Label recipients represent 31 European countries and offer a wide range of genres and activities to their audiences,” said Vincent Baudriller, Chairman of the EFFE international jury (Director of Lausanne's Theatre Vidy, former Co-director of Festival d’Avignon). ”From world-renowned dates in the cultural calendar, to eclectic events known only to switched-on insiders, an extremely wide variety of festivals are included.”

All EFFE Labels 2015-2016 will be presented in an online and print guide. This will extend the reach of European festivals across borders, create new bridges within the festival community and allow increased access of audiences to festivals coming up. The online guide will be launched in summer.

Darko Brlek, President of the European Festivals Association (EFA), said: “I am glad that EFA offers its network to a new platform that has such backing from the festival sector to really put audiences in direct touch with such an array of festivals. EFFE made this happen by calling together a unique festival community - a true gift to European culture and its incredible diversity which comes alive thanks to Europe’s festivals.”