The European Festivals Association (EFA) is holding its 2011 General Assembly and Conference from 28 April until 1 May 2011 in Varna/Bulgaria, hosted by the Varna Summer International Music Festival. More than 100 participants will attend the four day annual gathering. “The European Festivals Association is looking forward to the most important moment in the Association’s annual calendar. Varna at the Black Sea on the cross road of cultures and influences will provide the perfect setting for EFA members and invited guests to come together, exchange, network, explore the grounds for future collaboration and discuss the state of play of the festival business,” underlines EFA President Darko Brlek. “Following a previous successful exchange with the Varna Summer International Music Festival in 2009 when the Atelier for Young Festival Managers took place in Varna, we are glad to be here again this year and to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the festival together.” The official opening takes place on 28 April. Participants will be welcomed to Varna by Mr Kiril Yordanov, Mayor of Varna, and Mr Mitko Dimitrov, Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Culture. On 29 April, a collaboration platform entitled “Out of the Box – Into the Light!” takes place. “Out of the Box” includes a series of short and sharp FLASH presentations offering prospect collaboration opportunities in the field of festivals – cross-country and cross-continental as well as covering a broad variety of disciplines. On the agenda of the formal General Assembly on 30 April are, amongst others, Board elections and the admission of new members. With more than 100 members from 38 countries, EFA is constantly extending its diversity. Furthermore, the 2011 EFA General Assembly and Conference will be the moment to look at past and future projects and initiatives. To round up the 2010 flagship project “Open the Door”, a final publication of festivals’ best practices and recommendations will be released. Looking ahead, EFA will launch its activities celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Association’s foundation in 2012. Last but not least, EFA and the Varna Summer International Music Festival collaborate with the Varna Summer International Theatre Festival which organises two theatre show cases on 29 April: "Folklore fantasies", a prize winning puppet performance without language, by the Varna Puppet Theatre, founded in 1952, and "Faust", directed by Lilia Abadjiev, by the Varna Drama Theatre. In the run-up of the 2011 General Assembly and Conference, the Varna Summer International Music Festival launched the Varna Broadcast Project. The project includes a series of interviews of EFA members that have been broadcasted at a weekly basis on Radio Varna (Branch of the Bulgarian National Radio) – at www.radiovarna.com. Related links and documents: • Programme “Out of the Box” • Open the Door • Varna Summer International Music Festival • Atelier for Young Festival Managers VARNA 2009 • Atelier for Young Festival Managers SINGAPORE 2011 • Atelier for Young Festival Managers IZMIR 2011 • 2010 EFA General Assembly and Conference in Merano/Italy • 2009 EFA General Assembly and Conference in Vilnius/Lithuania • 2008 EFA General Assembly and Conference in Antalya • 2007 EFA General Assembly and Conference in Brussels