The European Festivals Association published the first edition of the FestFlash on Creativity and Innovation – a series of newsletters spotlighting concrete examples of festivals acting as laboratories of creativity and promoters of innovation. What is the innovative in the framework of a festival? What can a festival do to foster creative and innovative talents? Why do festivals play an important role in our modern societies? “Following 2008, the European Festivals Association continues to support the exchange between cultures, between people and between the artist and the audience. EFA invites festivals to engage their artistic and social power and act as strong messengers of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. It is a key mission of EFA, the representative network for festivals in Europe, to support festivals in their ambition to join forces, enter into new collaboration and foster artistic creativity and creation,” as Darko Brlek, President of the European Festivals Association underlines. The FestLab for Creativity and Innovation is an initiative of the European Festivals Association launched at the occasion of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. It is established to spotlight the excellence of festivals in the creative and societal process and to give incentives to successfully fulfill the festivals’ core mission which still is the artistic one. EFA invites all arts festivals to sign up to the initiative “FestLab for Creativity and Innovation” and commit to its objective. Read the Open Call here. Download the FestFlash on Creativity and Innovation No 1/April 2009 here. Keep an eye on the FestFlash that is distributed widely – it is also featured on the EFA FestLab website! To receive the FestFlash by e-mail, write to Juliane@efa-aef.eu . Related documents: • FestFlash on Creativity and Innovation No 3/July 2009: "Audiences meet artists: Summer Festivals invite to explore emerging artists and new works" • FestFlash on Creativity and Innovation No 2/June 2009: "Baltic and Black Sea regions go innovative" • FestFlash on Creativity and Innovation No 1/April 2009: "Launch of an innovative and creative initiative: the EFA FestLab"