Arts Festivals Summit 2017

EFA's Arts Festivals Summit 2017, including the 65th EFA General Assembly and EFFE MeetUp, will take place from 3 to 5 May in Wiesbaden (Germany), hosted by the Rheingau Musik Festival.

We are looking forward to bring the festivals’ community together in such great diversity. Three days of meeting your colleagues, information exchange and knowledge sharing are prepared for you, along with an insightful and enjoyable programme that will invite us to taste fantastic food, wine and visit cultural treasures from the region.

In preparation for the Arts Festival Summit we are gathering inspirational texts on the Pre-Summit page. Check out what your colleagues have to say and get ready for deep conversations and debates in Wiesbaden.

No idea how to reach Wiesbaden? Check out some practical information here!


Wednesday, 3 May 2017 | Official Opening Arts Festivals Summit

Arrival of delegates  - only for EFA Members 

12:00-14:00 | EFA Board Meeting (Di Gregorio Restaurant - Invitation only)

14:00-17:00 | EFFE Hubs Meeting (Dorint Pallas, Prag Room - Invitation only)

14:00-17:00 | Registration for EFA Members (Dorint Pallas Wiesbaden, lobby)

18:00 | Meeting all EFA delegates (Dorint Pallas Wiesbaden, lobby)

18:15-18:45 | Bus to Schloss Vollrads

Official Opening of the Arts Festivals Summit (Schloss Vollrads)
19:00 | Meet and Greet EFA members and guests
Welcome by
Dr. Rowald Hepp, Managing Director Schloss Vollrads 
Michael Herrmann
, Director Rheingau Musik Festival
Darko Brlek, President European Festivals Association (EFA)

Welcome Banquet

21:30 | First bus to Dorint Pallas Wiesbaden
22:00 | Second bus to Dorint Pallas Wiesbaden

Schloss Vollrads

Thursday, 4 May 2017 I EFFE MeetUp

EFA members meet EFFE 2017-2018 Label recipients and the Festival Academy alumni for the EFFE MeetUp.
All activities of the EFFE MeetUp day are taking place in the Casino-Gesellschaft Wiesbaden.

Host of the day: Annabelle Van Nieuwenhuyse accompanied by the Kapelsky Trio

9:00 | Meeting all EFA delegates (Dorint Pallas Wiesbaden, lobby)
Guided walk to Casino-Gesellschaft Wiesbaden (1km)

9:00 | Registration and welcome coffee

10:00-10:15 | Welcome and Introduction (HFA-Saal)

10:15-13:00 | 'In Conversation with…’ (HFA-Saal)
5x30 min. ‘In conversation with….’ is a series of parallel one-on-one (max 10 participants) conversations with inspiring conversation partners that give useful insight and new perspectives on artistic as well as organizational opportunities in festivals. 
Meet the Table Guests and Table Hosts

13:00-14:30 | Lunch (Spiegelsaal, Clubzimmer & Speisezimmer)

14:30-15:40 | Festivals in Europe (HFA-Saal)
Keynote Speech by Sir Jonathan MillsComposer and Director Edinburgh International Culture Summit, President EFFE International Jury
Introduced by Doris Pack, Former chair of the European Parliament’s Culture Committee and Barbara Gessler, Head of Unit DG EAC D2 Culture & Creativity | Creative Europe
Announcement of the EFFE Label 2017-2018 recipients with official guests

15:40-16:00 | Closing drink and informal networking

18:00 | Meeting all community’s delegates (Dorint Pallas Wiesbaden, lobby)

18:15 | Bus to the Alte Oper Frankfurt

20:00 | Hilary Hahn & Orchestre National de Lyon (Alte Oper Frankfurt, Großer Saal)
Le chasseur maudit‘‘, Sinfonische Dichtung g-Moll FWV 44 by César Franck I Violinkonzert D-Dur op. 35 by Piotr Iljitsch Tschaikowsky I Symphonie fantastique op. 14 by Hector Berlioz

22:00 | Dinner (UBS OpernTurm, 38th Floor - EFA members and guests only)

23:00 | First bus to Dorint Pallas Wiesbaden
00:00 | Second bus to Dorint Pallas Wiesbaden

Friday, 5 May 2017 | EFA 65th General Assembly (for EFA members only)

9:00 | Meeting all EFA delegates (Dorint Pallas Wiesbaden, lobby)
Guided walk to Hessischer Landtag (1,5km)

9:30 | Welcome Coffee (Hessischer Landtag, Plenarsaal)

9:00-14:00 | EFFE International Jury Meeting (Hessischer Landtag, Room 118 S - Invitation only)

10:00-13:30 | General Assembly (Hessischer Landtag, Plenarsaal )
Welcome by Norbert Kartmann, President Hessischer Landtag

13:45 | Walk to Hessische Staatskanzlei

14:00 | Lunch and Press Reception (Hessische Staatskanzlei)
Welcome by State Minister Axel Wintermeyer, Head of the Hessische Staatskanzlei
Speech by Michael Herrmann, Director Rheingau Musik Festival
Tribute to Darko Brlek, President European Festivals Association (EFA)
EFA Book LaunchesAtelier 10 years |  What you didn’t know about Europe – the ultimate cookbooks for cultural managers (with Pearle *) | EFA members brochure 

16:30-18:00 | General Assembly of The Festival Academy (Dorint Pallas Wiesbaden, Junior Suite 101)

17:00 | Bus to Kloster Eberbach

Closing Evening of the Arts Festivals Summit (Kloster Eberbach)

17:45 | Guided Tour and Wine-tasting

19:30 | Farewell Dinner and Inauguration speech EFA president
Handing over to the next host
EFA Members Awards

22:00 | First bus to Dorint Pallas Wiesbaden
23:00 | Second bus to Dorint Pallas Wiesbaden 

Kloster Eberbach

Please note that the Draft Programme (dated 11 April 2017) is subject to change in the course of further preparations of the Arts Festivals Summit.