Name of the candidate: Milena Lubarda Marojevic
Job title: Director
Age: 47
Gender: Female
Citizenship/origin: Montenegro
Artistic/geographical experience: Mostly Western Balkans and EU, Regional and EU theatrical projects

Name of the organisation / festival: Theatre City Budva
Membership category: Individual festival
Country of your organisation / festival: Montenegro
Festival art disciplines: Theatre, dance, music, literature
Annual turnover: €1,2 million
Number of visitors per edition: 10.000

Motivation: The friendship between the "Theatre City" Budva and the European Festivals Association started off in the form of the “Theatre City" candidacy for the 2019/2020 EFFE Seal for Festival Cities and Regions. That is to say, my efforts to make the "Theatre City" festival, which stands strong for almost four decades, an international address worthy of various important encounters and the performance of the most attractive theatre programmes and music with the addition of promoting the most significant artistic heritage together with the very best of literature, were finally recognised in 2019.

I want to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Haris Pašović, a distinguished director and the head of the Sarajevo’s "East-West Centre". He recognised the potential of "Theatre City Budva" to become a part of this huge network of European festivals, starting the professional friendship that has already shown results in terms of the artist exchange, mutual guest appearances and projects. Last year, Budva was one of the finalists for the ECOC 2028 title. As a member of the delegation defending the reasons behind this candidacy last September in Brussels, I was able to hear first-hand the EFA’s views on what makes Budva stand out among other European cities with long-lasting cultural traditions. With all this in mind I’ve initiated the process of putting into effect a suggestion that Budva should host the Annual Arts Festivals Summit. This would provide an opportunity for all our guests who are the members of the Association to get acquainted with this remarkable town that harbours huge potential with the addition of having a   long-lasting tradition when it comes to organising the performance art events under the open sky. I’m sure that the members of the Association’s stay in Budva would spark off various different collaborations and projects.
When talking about Budva as a town of cultural festivals, the idea is that every street and square could become a stage and a performing venue. This practice is, after all, similar to the one of many other festivals, members of EFA. Consequently, the cooperation through projects mediated by EFA has to this moment brought us significant collaborations and contacts expanding more and more with every meeting and encounter. Efforts for inclusion of the marginalised individuals and groups made by EFA is what I am especially interested in. The artistic potential of the groups that are not always given appropriate and sufficient attention is actually a fertile ground that allows the mutual supplementation of “smaller” and “larger” festivals as well as the one between city centers and secluded places on the peripheries.