Saturday, 20 October 2012, Ljubljana. The final day of the Atelier for Young Festival Managers “was one of reflection, celebration and many fantastic quotes,” says participant Gemma Connell in her blog covering the Atelier. In a final session, participants summarised their impressions of the 7-day training programme. The Atelier closed with a ceremony at the Ljubljana City Hall: President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Danilo Türk, addressed the participants and presenters, and Gerard Mortier (General Director Teatro Real de Madrid) gave an exclusive lecture and entered into an exchange with the young festival managers. Furthermore, participants received their certificates. “Arriving for the first Atelier session of the day, we shared our thoughts on the Atelier, commenting on what it had done for us, and where we were planning to go from here. Thoughts from all participants were extremely positive. For myself, I came into this conference pitching a festival that tours to different cities around the world. I now know what conversations need to occur in order to make that happen, and I know how to get them started. I have been completely inspired, each and every day; with new ideas for my festival, for commissions and I've been introduces to Slovenian artists that I'd like to work with in the future. With particular relation to digital technologies, I have discovered new ways of engaging an audience or creating participative projects. We all felt that we have a strong new network here – the seeds of many potential future collaborations between us have certainly been sowed. But I am also confident that I can say that I now have friends in 21 countries around the world. “I will never forget the Atelier, and I will never forget all of you,” said Sean Buhagiar, Atelier participant from Malta. Most of all, I am leaving the Atelier with the reassurance that I can do this. Although my festival idea is extremely ambitious, I know now that it is possible and that it is going to be more than worth it. Moving to the closing ceremony of the Atelier, we were honoured to be graced with the presence of Slovenia's President, Dr. Danilo Türk. Gerard Mortier of Teatro Real de Madrid gave an extremely inspiring closing lecture. He talked of how, in the arts, we adapt to the world: “We are not living in a crisis. We are living in an important moment of human history.” He spoke of how we can begin to change the world together. He also spoke of past works and how it is not always appropriate to use them: “We should only use art works from the past as far as they can tell us about our history.” But Gerard's most important message, I feel, was simply to “Go your own way”. The Atelier culminated in a beautiful party hosted by the Ljubljana Festival – good food, a brilliant orchestra and friends coming together with chatter, laughter and dancing. The party affirmed for me, that this will certainly not be the last time that we all see each other. Once an Atelier, always an Atelier.” Hosted and co-organised by the Ljubljana Festival, the Atelier for Young Festival Managers in Ljubljana was made possible thanks to the support of the City of Ljubljana (Founder of the Ljubljana Festival); the Ljubljana Castle; the Institut Français Ljubljana; the British Council; the Goethe-Institut; EUNIC Slovenia; and the Embassy of France in Slovenia. The Belgian Embassy in Ljubljana kindly supported the Closing Ceremony of the Atelier LJUBLJANA 2012. Related news and links: • Atelier News #7: "Once an Atelier, always an Atelier" • Atelier News #6: in-depth discussions of the essentials of the previous days • Atelier News #5: Cultural visits, press conference, book launch, boat trip and more • Atelier News #4: "Mutual inspiration in an ideas arena" • Atelier News #3: “Bouncing ideas and streams of creations” • Atelier News #2: Festivals in unusual contexts – a lot of food for thought • Atelier News #1: “Welcome, fools, to our world” • Daily blog by participant Gemma Connell (UK) • Robyn Archer opens Atelier LJUBLJANA 2012: “We are all participants“ • Atelier for Young Festival Managers LJUBLJANA 2011 starts today: Follow online! • Public invited to opening of Atelier LJUBLJANA 2012 with Robyn Archer • Atelier LJUBLJANA 2012: intense exclusive training and high-level public events