Last week, in Brussels a series of events took place that celebrated intercultural dialogue: On Wednesday (10 September) the fifth Brussels Debate on "Multilingualism – a bridge or a barrier for intercultural dialogue?" was organised by the European Commission in cooperation with the European Union National Institutes of Culture (EUNIC). The weekend (12 and 13 September) was all about a special European Festival on Intercultural Dialogue with a divers programme, set up also by the European Commission, this time in cooperation with the Flagey Arts Centre, where the festival took place. The debate on multilingualism and intercultural dialogue gave the floor to Leonard Orban, EU Commissioner for Multilingualism, Sandra Pralong, member of the Group of Intellectuals for Intercultural Dialogue, Abram De Swaan, Emeritus Research Professor for Social Science at the University of Amsterdam, and MEP Claude Moraes. They discussed the question whether multilingualism is "a bridge or a barrier" for intercultural exchange. They came to the conclusion that multilingualism bears great opportunities for mutual understanding, rich dialogue, social cohesion, economic prosperity, and integration and that "respect for other cultures" is most important. The Brussels Debates series is one of the core activities of the EU in the context of the European Year for Intercultural Dialogue. Find out more on the EU’s website dedicated to intercultural dialogue! The second major event – the European Festival of Intercultural Dialogue – involved next to EU representatives, artists from all over Europe and beyond, cultural operators and the Ambassadors of the Year. Film and TV director Agnieszka Holland; conductor Jack Martin Händler; film director Radu Mihăileanu; journalist and author Adam Michnik; musician and conductor Jordi Savall; pianist Fazil Say and singer Marija Šerifović were part of the rich programme of concerts, film screenings, workshops and debates. In his opening speech, EU Culture Commissioner Ján Figel’ paid tribute to all the important work done by festivals to promote intercultural dialogue. Saturday was characterized by a series of workshops under the direction of the Ambassadors, for example on the topic "The need for intercultural and transnational collaboration". The closing concert – "East-West, a dialogue of souls, of ancient and world music" – brought together on one stage artists from different backgrounds playing music from different times and different places of the world: Jordi Savall (conducting, viola da gamba) Driss El Maloumi (oud), Dimitri Psonis (santur, morisca) and Pedro Estevan (percussion) demonstrated that "the East and the West has been engaged in constant dialogue and that our common heritage has been enriched by this meeting of cultures". This shows the important role festivals play in "initiating a process of mutual exchange of artistic excellence among different countries" (Declaration). Refer to the EU website to read more about the festival and to the Flagey website for the full programme. Photos can be found in the EFA picture gallery.