News
Six Remarkable Festivals Receive The 2017 EFFE Award
18 September 2017
EFFE – Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe - is the European Festivals Association’s mark of recognition for Europe’s most exciting arts festivals
Respected festival representatives from across
Europe gathered in Brussels on 18 September for the Arts Festivals Salon and
announcement of the 2017 EFFE Awards. EFFE is the scheme for the recognition of
Europe’s remarkable festivals selected by the European Festivals Association
with the support of the European Commission and European Parliament.
An International Jury presided over by Sir Jonathan
Mills, composer and former Director of the Edinburgh International Festival,
selected 6 of the most trend-setting European festivals from a pool of 715
which were recognised with the EFFE Label in May. The label is eligible to
festivals in 39 countries participating in the Creative Europe Programme.
The EFFE
Award winners (in alphabetical order) are:
- Altofest International Contemporary Live Arts Festival, Italy
- European Film Festival Palic, Serbia
- FMM Sines - Festival Músicas do
Mundo, Portugal
- Gdansk Shakespeare Festival, Poland
- Utrecht Early Music Festival, Netherlands
A
special Award for its continued reinvention of the arts and festival sector is
given to the Edinburgh International Festival, UK.
From the many festivals given the EFFE label, 26 Laureates were
announced in July as candidates for the Award. They ranged geographically from
the Azores to Kiev, from Cyprus to Estonia and in scope from early music to
digital arts. The International Jury’s decision was built on national experts’
advice on applicant festivals from world famous fixtures in the cultural
calendar to eclectic events known only to a few.
Sir Jonathan Mills reminded the guests during the Award Ceremony
at BOZAR on 18 September of the enriching impact of arts activities on our
society and their powerful message towards European integration. Bernard
Foccroulle, composer, musician and director of Festival d’Aix-en-Provence,
joined the conversation saying how important it is to show the commitment of
European arts festivals to the dialogue between different artists, cultures,
traditional and contemporary repertoire, popular and more elitist programming –
and to see a reflection of this diversity in Europe’s
online Arts Festivals Calendar.
European
Commissioner for Culture Tibor Navracsics underlined that, “as Commissioner in
charge of culture, I will keep working with all the representatives of the
major arts festivals in Europe to make sure culture is high on the European
agenda. Together with the European Festivals Association, the European
Commission is proud to recognise the work that is done by thousands of people
working in festivals as well as the artists performing in them.”
During the
Arts Festivals Salon, hosted by the Centre for Fine Arts – BOZAR, festival
leaders had the chance to exchange views with one another but also with
European and local authorities and partners from the business sector. After
receiving the prizes, the guests were invited to a concert by Bernard
Foccroulle as part of the InOrguration Festival, celebrating the restoration of
BOZAR’s organ.
Governor Jan Briers, EFA President, said, “with an online Arts Festivals
Calendar www.effe.eu, EFFE puts festivals from diverse
genres at the fingertips of audiences across Europe.” The EFFE Label is the
means by which Europe recognises remarkable arts festivals committed to the
arts, their communities and an open view on the world.
The EFFE International Jury members are:
Sir Jonathan Mills (Chairman, EFFE International Jury – Australia, UK), Tamar
Brüggeman (Co-Director, Wonderfeel - Netherlands), Peter Florence (Director, Hay Festivals – UK), Keng Sen Ong (Director, Singapore International Festival of Arts -
Singapore), Haris Pašović (Theater director, Director East West
Centre, Sarajevo – Bosnia and Herzegovina), Pawel Potoroczyn (CEO of University SWPS in
Warsaw - Poland), Renato Quaglia (General Manager, FOQUS Foundation - Italy),
Irene Rossi (Couleur Café - Belgium), Fruzsina Szép (Director, Lollapalooza
Berlin and Board member, Yourope - Hungary).
Find more
details about the EFFE International Jury here.