The European Festivals Association (EFA) launches EFA BOOKS 4: “Dialogue. Festivals Act for an Intercultural Society.” Seven festival directors share their thoughts about festivals’ roles in our diverse societies. The fourth edition of the European Festivals Association’s BOOKS Series follows on EFA’s engagement in the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. In an inspiring collection of articles, interviews and discussions, Hortense Archambault (Festival d’Avignon), Per Boye Hansen (Bergen International Festival), Joachim Sartorius (Berliner Festspiele), Enrique Gámez Ortega (Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada), Yeşim Gürer Oymak (International Istanbul Music Festival), Yossi Tal-Gan (Israel Festival, Jerusalem) and Ibrahim Spahić (International Sarajevo Festival) elaborate why festivals are important motors to enhance intercultural dialogue. This insightful anthology of different festivals’ itineraries and cultural approaches to cities and their inhabitants discusses festivals’ role, potentials and limits to move borders and remove barriers. It also underlines, as previous EFA BOOKS did, the important role of artists and arts in our societies today. “Festivals channel the visionary and imaginative artistic force of artists in order to expose audiences to what is innovative, original, excellent, to what is the ‘other’. That is the inherent task of a festival: to create exceptional festive moments of dialogue between the arts and the public,” states EFA Secretary General Kathrin Deventer in the introduction. “In a parallel effort, it is an important task of a cultural network to support its members in their mission.” Dialogue is the fourth edition in the EFA BOOKS Series. Previous editions include Cahier de l’Atelier. Arts festivals for the sake of art? (2008), Give, Get or Get off! Challenges of cultural networking today (2008) and Still so much to be done. Challenges for Culture in Europe (2006). All editions of the EFA BOOKS Series can be purchased on the EFA eShop at www.efa-aef.eu. Download the press release in English, French and German. Contact: Juliane Reissig, Communication and Project Assistant European Festivals Association Kleine Genttraat 46 9051 Ghent/Belgium T +32 9 241 8080 F +32 9 241 8089 Juliane@efa-aef.eu www.efa-aef.eu