Milestones

• 1952 Foundation of the “Association Européenne des Festivals de Musique” by Denis de Rougemont, first President (until 1982), and Igor Markevitch • René Gerhard Podbielski becomes Secretary General (until 1955) • Founding members: Festival Aix-en-Provence • Bayreuther Festspiele • Berliner Festspiele • Festival International de Musique de Besançon Franche-Comté • Festival de Musique Bordeaux • Teatro Del Maggio Musicale FiorentinoFondazione • Holland Festival • Lucerne Festival • Münchner Opernfestspiele • SagraMusicale Umbra - Perugia • Festival de Musique de Strasbourg • Biennale di Venezia -International Festival of Contemporary Music • Wiener Festwochen • InternationaleMai-Festspiele Wiesbaden • Zürcher Festspiele
• 1953-1955 General Assemblies Geneva
• 1956 Abraham Van der Vies becomes Secretary General (until 1959) • First General Assembly outside Geneva: Venice
• 1957 First research published on “The role of festivals in Europe’s cultural life” (“Le rôle des festivals dans la vie culturelle de l’Europe”)
• 1959 General Assembly Munich
• 1960 Franz Walter becomes Secretary General and artistic advisor (until 1983)
• 1966 First festival from outside Europe joined: Israel Festival, Jerusalem
• 1974 General Assembly Athens
• 1976 General Assembly Strasbourg • Publication "Festivals de Musique Européens"
• 1977 General Assembly Bruges
• 1978 General Assembly Salzburg
• 1979 General Assembly Verona
• 1980 General Assembly Granada
• 1981 General Assembly Bregenz
• 1982 Tassilo Nekola becomes second President (until 1989) at the General Assembly Stresa
• 1983 Henry Siegwart becomes Secretary General (until 1996) at the General Assembly Santander
• 1984 General Assembly Ljubljana
• 1985 General Assembly Estoril
• 1986 General Assembly Amsterdam
• 1987 General Assembly Bergen
• 1988 General Assembly Berlin
• 1989 Frans de Ruiter becomes third President (until 2004) at the General Assembly Istanbul • European co-production,co-promotion and co-sponsorship committee
• 1990 General Assembly Athens
• 1991 General Assembly Prague • Creation of working groups on early music, contemporary music, extra-European arts and more
• 1992 General Assembly Pesaro • Celebration of EFA’s 40th anniversary in Berlin
• 1993 General Assembly Budapest
• 1994 General Assembly Brighton
• 1995 General Assembly Ljubljana • Publication “European Festivals”
• 1996 Tamás Klenjánszky becomes Secretary General (until 2004) at General Assembly Brussels
• 1997 New categories of membership are introduced for ‘collective’ members at the General Assembly Turin • European Music Festivals Association becomes EuropeanFestivals Association
• 1998 General Assembly Estoril
• 1999 Cooperation with the EU - first financial support • First EFA training programme in Geneva • General Assembly Dubrovnik
• 2000 Set up of EuroFestival and a Data Centre in Brussels at the General Assembly Helsinki • EFA develops first website under EuroFestival • EFA training programme in Estoril
• 2001 General Assembly Bad Kissingen • Ars Nova working group on contemporary music in Berlin
• 2002 50th anniversary at the General Assembly Coppet/Geneva: Festival of Festivals and EFA 50th anniversary Charter by Dragan Klaic • Ars Nova Amsterdam
• 2003 General Assembly Wroclaw • Ars Nova Zagreb
• 2004 Gavin Henderson becomes fourth President (until 2004) • Move from Switzerland to Belgium • Hugo De Greef becomes Secretary General (until 2008) • General Assembly London • Conference: “New Europe, New Horizons! What next for festivals?” • Foundation of AAPAF, sister network in Asia • Launch of Euro-pean Festival Research Project (EFRP)
• 2005 Darko Brlek becomes fifth President at the General Assembly Brno • Conference: “EFA and its Networking Opportunities” • Ars Nova Zagreb
• 2006 Launch EFA BOOKS Series: EFA BOOKS 1 “Still so much to be done” at the occasion of the centenary of Denis de Rougemont • Launch Atelier for Young Festival Managers: Atelier GÖRLITZ • General Assembly Luxembourg • Conference: “Festivals and the Media” • CAMM Rome (Collective and Affiliate Members Meeting) • Ars Nova Oslo
• 2007 General Assembly Brussels • Conference: “Cultural Networks at Work”, in cooperation with the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) • First Round Table with EU Commissioner for Culture Jan Figel’ • Ars Nova Brussels • CAMM Ljubljana
• 2008 Kathrin Deventer becomes Secretary General (active mandate) at the General Assembly Antalya • Conference: “Festivals in a Globalising World” • First engagement in the European Years: European Year of Intercultural Dialogue – launch of Arts Festivals’ Declaration on Intercultural Dialogue, Ljubljana • Launch European House for Culture • Launch EU Platform Access to Culture, EFA is one of the founding members • EFA BOOKS 2: Give, Get or Get Off! Challenges of cultural networking today • EFA BOOKS 3: Cahier de l’Atelier. Arts festivals for the sake of art? • CAMM Tallinn
• 2009 General Assembly Vilnius • Conference: “Artistic Trends in Festivals” • Atelier VARNA • European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009: launch of FestLab for Creativity and Innovation, Prague – launch of MusMA: Music Masters on Air • EFA BOOKS 4: Dialogue. Festivals Act for an Intercultural Society • CAMM Ubeda
• 2010 General Assembly Merano • Conference “Open the Door” • Round Table with EU Commissioner for Culture Androulla Vassiliou • President of Croatia Ivo Josipovic receives EFA, launch of No Borders Orchestra • First AAPAF-EFA meeting • Ars Nova Brussels • CAMM Stockholm • European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion 2010: Open the Door
• 2011 General Assembly Varna • Conference: “Out of the Box” • Publication: Open the Door • Atelier SINGAPORE • Atelier IZMIR • CAMM Budapest • Launch of FESTudy (research project initiated by France Festivals)
• 2012 Diamond Jubilee: “EFA 60 Years On: Festivals and the World” • Round Table with EU Commissioner for Culture Androulla Vassiliou • Launch of African Festival Asso-ciation and FestArab • CAMM Dublin • Jubilee Gala & General Assembly Bergen: kick off“Bergen Agenda” • Atelier LJUBLJANA • European House for Culture kicking off European Year of Citizens 2013