The Atelier for Young Festival Managers IZMIR 2011 (24-31 October) is set to be a great success. The European Festivals Association (EFA) and this edition’s host, the İzmir Foundation for Culture Arts and Education (İKSEV), warmly invite the press and the public to the Opening Ceremony of the Atelier with Robyn Archer, Creative Director of The Centenary of Canberra (2013) and Artistic Director of The Light in Winter, Melbourne (Australia).It takes place on Monday, 24 October 2011 at the new Music Instruments Museum of Izmir (MÜSİKSEV) at 5:30pm (registration at info@iksev.org). The programme of the Opening is promising: Mr. Ertuğrul Günay, Minister of Culture and Tourism will welcome the participants to the Izmir Atelier, together with Mr. Aziz Kocaoğlu, Mayor of İzmir, and Mr. Mustafa Cahit Kıraç, Governor of İzmir, as well as Mr. Darko Brlek, President of EFA, and Ms. Filiz Sarper, President of İKSEV. Ms Rose Fenton (Director Free World, UK) and Ms Robyn Archer will deliver speeches paving the floor for an intense week of work and exchanges. Robyn Archer and Rose Fenton are eager to share their rich experiences with the next generation of festival leaders. EFA is looking back on a yearlong collaboration with both. Ms Archer previously acted as presenter in the Atelier for Young Festival Managers in Varna/Bulgaria (2009) and in Singapore (May 2011), the first Atelier to take place in Asia. She brought the Atelier SINGAPORE 2011inspiring keynote speech and shared her invaluable experience as an artist and a festival leader with the participants. Rose joined the team of presenters of the Atelier for Young Festival Managers in Varna (2009), Singapore (2011) and now, for the third time, in Izmir. She also contributed to EFA BOOKS 3 – “Cahier de l’Atelier. Arts festivals for the sake of art?”, a reference book about arts festivals, in which renowned festival directors evoke their experiences and the challenge of creating arts festivals that enrich artistic expression. Furthermore, the 7-day Atelier will welcome the following managers of exceptional festivals from all over the world: Hugo De Greef (Belgium), Ching-Lee Goh (Singapore), Nele Hertling (Germany), Michał Merczyński (Poland), Jonathan Mills (Australia/UK) and Fruzsina Szép (Hungary). They will pass on their knowledge to the 38 young festival managers from 26 countries selected for the Atelier in Izmir. The mentors of the Atelier prepared an intense programme for the participants with talks, workshops, practical activities, interactive dialogues, meeting with Turkish artists and a cultural programme digging into Izmir’s arts life. The Atelier IZMIR 2011 will be brought to an end with a Closing ceremony also open to the press and the public, taking place at the Historic Gas Plant of Izmir on Sunday October 30, 2011. Related documents and links: • Atelier IZMIR 2011 • Official invitation to the Opening Ceremony and programme • Press release (19 October 2011) • Programme of the week • CVs mentors and presenters • List of participants • [http://www.facebook.com/AtelierForYoungFestivalManagers" title="Atelier on Facebook" target="_blank">Atelier on Facebook