Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Belonging
Festivals are heralds of celebrating the arts as windows to different worlds, connecting and involving people from all walks of life in a particular space and time span. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Belonging (DEIAB) have become essential priorities for society, more and more for politics, and hence for many arts festivals and the broader cultural sector.
But what do these terms mean in practice? How much focus do festivals give to these concepts? What can festivals do and what can they not do?
The European Festivals Association (EFA) invites festivals to share their practices and understand together the diversity of approaches and possibilities of the many actions that are taken (or not yet taken) by festivals around Europe and beyond.
We live in a globalised, diverse and complex world characterised by both pluralism and polarisation. In addition to programming high-quality and memorable artists and performances, it is important to look into festivals’ practices through the lens of DEIAB. What do festivals do to integrate evolving concepts, policies or even norms into festivals’ work on DEIAB? What is the place of actions to enhance representation, promote social justice and address structural discrimination, racism, privilege and power imbalances? What is the role of festivals, festival makers, programmers and directors in this context?
EFA was accompanied in this process by Ceyda Berk-Söderblom – arts manager, curator and festival programmer specialising in social inclusion, diversity and inclusion management.
The call for the survey was open from 17 September to 11 November 2024. Thanks to the more than 100 answers received, we can now highlight some stories and show the outcome and results from it.
DEIAB statement
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging (DEIAB) is a journey that reflects EFA’s commitment to inviting festivals to learn about and exchange around these important concepts. EFA is accompanied in this process by Ceyda Berk-Söderblom – arts manager, curator, and festival programmer specializing in social inclusion, diversity, and inclusion management – and will work with other experts while moving on.
EFA aims to address DEIAB by inviting festivals to think about their practices, collect and share knowledge on the topic and encourage festivals to take action through the “Count me in!” campaign. This campaign will support us in identifying festivals’ needs and see which activities are put in place to enhance DEIAB among the festival sector.
The “Count me in!” stories are online
The campaign included a survey and a call for stories that was open from 17 September to 11 November 2024. We have received many stories and started to spotlight them on FestivalFinder.eu.
You can find here below the “Count me in!” stories that have been published so far. More will follow in the upcoming weeks, stay tuned!