President Flanders Festival Ghent

"Festivals are about building bridges between human beings and their culture: on our chaotic planet more necessary than ever before…"

As Representative of the International Flanders Festival (Brussels/Ghent), Jan Briers was responsible of some 350 events in 36 cities and smaller towns. He still is President of the Federation of the 350 Music Festivals in Flanders. As Vice-President of the European Festivals Association (2004-2011), he was first of all interested in festival matters like co-production, co-promotion and co-sponsoring. During this time, he acted as co-founder of AAPAF (Asian Association for Performing Arts Festivals) and was involved in the organisation of a first joint conference between EFA and ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts) in 2007 at the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Flanders Festival. 

In 2000 he created the structure for the new concert hall in Bruges, the Concertgebouw. He became president of the European Festivals Association in September 2017. Other Associations in which he is a member of the board, president or vice-president include: Festival of Flanders, The Festival Foundation, Ghent Festival, KlaraFestival, the International Filmfestival of Flanders, The Bijloke Concert Hall Ghent, The Festival Academy, Audiences Europe Network, etc. He was until 2018 the Governor of the East-Flanders province.