“Policy-makers have to recognise that the education and outreach programme comes very directly from our existence as cultural institutions, from our core mission – which is our artistic programme,” says Joanna Baker, Managing Director of the Edinburgh International Festival. One of the missions of the 2010 flagship project “Open The Door” of the European Festivals Association (EFA) is to highlight how festivals act as dynamic platforms for inclusion and access to culture through their core artistic mission. The third edition of the FestFlash of the European Festivals Association stresses: “Without arts, no festivals, and no keys to society!” The 2010 FestFlash brings news about festivals and their activities implemented in the spirit of the “Open The Door” initiative. The third edition of the FestFlash puts the spotlight on the Edinburgh International Festival – one of the largest and oldest festivals in Europe. Since its foundation in 1947, there has been a strong “belief in the power of the arts to nurture and transform” – this conviction still lies at the heart of the festival's mission today. The festival implements a broad education and outreach programme targeting a variety of different audiences. In an interview with EFA in the framework of the EFA “Open The Door” project, Joanna Baker stresses the festival’s core mission: the artistic programme. Starting from here, the Edinburgh International Festival successfully engages people from all walks of life while ensuring a programme of artistic excellence. More “FestFlash Highlights” of the third edition: the Drottningholm Slottsteater Festival (Sweden) argues that “artistic excellence is key”; the Emilia Romagna Festival (Italy) follows the motto “times change, and we change with them”; the festival Les Floraisons Musicals (France) is “eager to circulate not only young musicians but also their works as well as young composers”; the Festival de Wiltz (Luxembourg) achieves “to reach a public that normally cannot participate in performances of this format”; and the “Diálogos” of the Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada (Spain) advocates that “culture carries the capability and the capacity for social change.” Read ahead! How to commit to “Open The Door” The European Festivals Association invites all arts festivals to commit to the initiative “Open The Door” at the dedicated website: www.Open-The-Door.eu. Festivals who express their commitment are invited to submit their best practice. Related links and documents: • Download the FestFlash of the European Festivals Association 3 / 2010. • Interview Joanna Baker, Edinburgh International Festival • Interview Enrique Gámez, Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada