On 21-22 November, Festivals from the Nordic and Baltic region gathered in Helsingør/Helsingborg (Denmark/Sweden) for the conference of the NordicBaltic Festival Platform. 

The Conference brought together managers and artistic directors of festivals from all fields, among which a lot of EFA members and EFFE Label Festivals, to exchange ideas and best practices, make new connections and explore various possibilities for cooperation, and attend some great, avant garde performances from the Nordics.

EFA participated to present its activities, EFFE – Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe and The Festival Academy training. You can still watch the presentation livestream here. The overall theme of the conference was “Festivals-Tourism-Local Communities". No problem if you missed the conference this year, have a look at the videos of these presentations, there’s a lot to learn for any festival manager:

Juliana Engberg, Programme Director Aarhus 2017 gave a keynote speech about how she developed the branding of the European Capital of Culture involving both the artistic scene and tourism bodies of the city. Watch the keynote speech here. 

Bradley Allen, Creative Europe Desk Denmark, gave a very clear overview of the opportunities for festivals in the Creative Europe programme and how to look for and collaborate with partners to set up cooperation projects. Check his presentation here.

James McVeigh, Festivals Edinburgh Uk, presented some practical tips how to set up a marketing strategy for festivals to target tourists and work with tourism bodies in your region and country. Watch the 12 steps approach here.

More speakers can be found here.

On day two, many participants presented their projects for which they are still looking for partners. Maybe there something interesting for your festivals as well:

• EFFE Label: Passage Festival/Helsingør Teater, Rita Sebestyén (DK)
• Handbendi Brúðuleikhús - North-West Iceland's professional theatre and puppetry company, Greta Clough (IS)
• Nordic Song Festval, Gitta-Maria Sjöberg, Initiator & Artistic Director (SE)
•  Musik i Syd: 6 festivals, Peter Wilgotsson, Manager of Festivals and International Relations (SE)
• Drakamöllan Opera Festival, Ingalill Thorsell & Guido Paevatalu, Founders and Managers of the Festival (SE)
• EFFE Label: Vinterfest (International chamber music festival), Annika Nordkvist, Festival Manager, Musik i Dalarna (SE)
• Landskrona Photo Festival, Tina Jönsson, Project Manager (SE)
• EFA Member and EFFE Label: Usedomer Music Festival, Thomas Hummel, Executive Director (DE)