The 6th annual EFA Collective and Affiliate Members’ Meeting (CAMM) took place from 1-3 April 2011 in Budapest/Hungary, at the invitation of Hungarofest, the Budapest Spring Festival and the Palace of the Arts Budapest. It is the key gathering for EFA’s 16 national festivals associations and networks – representing altogether more than 1000 festivals and events organisations from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. In 2011, a one-day public conference on 1 April focused on “Regional Strategies and Cultural Cooperation”. Following the footsteps of the 2010 CAMM in Stockholm – where for the first time a public conference was organised in the framework of a CAMM on “Festivals – Increasing Access, Supporting Creativity” - Hungarofest took the opportunity of this annual meeting to invite all EFA members and the general public to attend the gathering. The conference was connected to the programme series of Hungary's EU Presidency, was part of the professional programmes of the Budapest Spring Festival and was organised in cooperation with the Palace of Arts Budapest. The conference aimed at providing a deeper insight into the regional strategies of the European Union, with a special focus on their cultural dimensions: the way they act as catalyst for cultural cooperation and as culture affects regional development. The discussions approached the important issue of joint fundraising opportunities and new initiatives for regional, inter-regional and intercontinental cultural cooperation projects, with the participation and invaluable contribution of cultural professionals, experts and festival directors. In her introductory note, Orsolya Erdődy, Head of Office, KLASSZ Music Office, Hungarofest, states: “The rediscovery of the regions is one response to globalisation. In the globalised world we often lose our place and feeling of security, as communities, direct contacts and fixed points disappear. Clinging to and seeking for regions can thus be regarded as a longing for fixed points. The region is an expression of people’s desire for community, whether it be a political, economic, religious or cultural community. In an age when we are striving to regard the whole world as one gigantic region, when we cross continents with ease, the smaller regions provide spaces that can be interpreted culturally, are transparent, invite emotional attachment and arouse a feeling of familiarity. We are witnessing a great flowering of arts festivals in Europe. Hundreds and thousands of people set out each summer to travel abroad and visit Bayreuth, Baden-Baden, Lucerne or Salzburg. In the wake of the increasingly popular summer music and theatre festivals, cultural regions and new cultural centres are emerging on the map of Europe.” Furthermore, the 2011 CAMM focused in particular on a joint research project set up by national festivals associations, networks and universities to gather facts and figures on festival life in Europe as well as other European matters discussed at national level. It is part of the long-term working agenda agreed in the 2009 meeting in Ubeda. This “Focal Point Agenda” includes the improvement of synergies in the fields of communication, taxes/VAT, VISA issues and exchange of relevant facts and figures in the festival business.