Director of the Valley of Arts Festival

Natália Oszkó-Jakab is first and foremost the Festival Director of the Valley of Arts Festival (Művészetek Völgye) since 2013, the oldest, and greatest multi-art festival in Hungary, founded in 1989. She is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Arts for Rural Development Foundation which mission is to develop rural areas, boost regional recovery, sustainable local tourism and to contribute to infrastructural development with festivals organised in smaller villages. The Foundation is the main organiser of the Valley of Arts Festival and Kerekdomb Festival which is situated in Tokaj Wine region in a charming historic site.

Natália started her career at the Palace of Arts (MÜPA), the most modern cultural institution of Hungary in 2005. She also spent two years (2011-13) at an international organisation while working for the Valley of Arts on a freelance basis since 2011. As a cultural diplomat, she was leading the Liszt Institute Brussels in 2022-2023 while leading her foundations and festivals. Her community activity started from Hungarian organisations of participation at the Hungarian Festival Association, being the founder of the Music Hungary Associations and now the Festival Department leader within the organisation. From 2021, her community, education and lobbying activity led to founding the Hungarian Tourism Programme Foundation which now became the EFFE Hungarian Hub since Autumn 2023 and is the main professional organisation of the Hungarian event industry. Through her Startup Safari Budapest festival she is fostering collaboration in between the cultural and innovation sector.

Her journey with the European Festivals Association (EFA) began in 2014, initially drawn in by the EFFE label procedure and as she delved deeper into the organisation's ethos, priorities, and initiatives, her connection to it deepened. Her commitment to EFA extends beyond mere participation; she is driven to actively contribute to its knowledge on sustainability pillars - environmental, societal, and economic. By leveraging her time and insights, she aspires to foster a more resilient, diverse, and culturally vibrant European cultural festival sector with being proudly on the Board of Directors of the European Festival Association.