The 8th Cultural Forum in St Petersburg offered again a dynamic platform for exchanges on cross-national collaborations between European and Russian festivals. This time, under the ‘Festivals of Festivals’ strand of the Forum visited by more than 10.000 cultural practitioners, major festivals from Europe shared their experience, their needs and their invitation for collaboration.

 The Istanbul Music Festival, Mittelfest, Prague Spring Festival, George Enescu Festival, Khumo Chamber Music Festival, Bergen International Festival, JazzFest Berlin, ArtLink Belgrade, RomaEuropa, Sochi Winter Festival, AltoFest Napoli followed the invitation of the Russian Concert Agency by Yuriy Bashmet and the European Festivals Association to present their work, share their thoughts about the relevance of high arts for society, but also listen to the proposals of the incredibly rich Russian festivals scene.

 New contacts and ideas were exchanged and put into the shared believe of constant improvement and inspiration brought by new friends.

 Dmitry Grintchenko, Director of the Sochi Winter Festival and organizer of the Forum’s Festivals’ strand, launched in this framework and for the purpose of closer exchanges amongst Russian and with Europe’s arts festivals the Russian Festivals Association. We are looking forward to a continued direct line.