The Time We Spend Together: Gozo Forum 2026
Addressing the uncertainties and challenges of the arts, the importance of well-being, and the role they play in individual and collective welfare, we are inviting EFA Members to participate in the "The Time We Spend Together" Gozo Forum and Retreat in Malta from 4 to 6 July 2026.
Organised by EFA and A Soul for Europe and hosted by the Region of Gozo and Victoria 2031, the idea behind the Forum is rooted in the belief that the role of arts for individual and collective welfare is essential: there is a need for forging collective values and behavioral change to address our complex, uncertain and challenging global realities.
This full 3-day forum and gathering will offer space and time for togetherness, reflection, and care on the topic of the arts, festivals and Europe. This moment will provide a shared platform for plenary conversations, creating a space for connection and exchange among multiple stakeholders that are in one or another way involved in dealing with the topic of arts and well-being: artists, festival makers, policy makers from local to EU level, but also community workers, volunteers, NGO and citizens on the ground. It is designed to foster meaningful, human connections, moving from personal to structural conversations, and onward to systemic debates evolving into a ‘laboratory for care’ with diverse experiences and perspectives.
Aim
The retreat aims to help participants explore their role and possibilities as festival and cultural professionals as well as policy makers to integrate care, empathy, and reciprocity into their work and their engagement with communities. This gathering is not only about community building but also about placemaking, allowing participants to experience Gozo and its arts through grassroots projects, local engagement, and the island’s unique environment.
Victoria and the island of Gozo
Gozo, Malta’s second island, is a small but culturally vibrant Mediterranean community where cultural life is closely connected to everyday social structures, traditions, and landscape. The island hosts a wide range of festivals, artistic initiatives, and community-based cultural practices that operate throughout the year. Victoria, the island’s capital, serves as an important cultural and civic hub and is currently leading the Victoria 2031 candidature for the title of European Capital of Culture. Within this context, the forum seeks to connect local artistic practice and community life with wider conversations on culture, care, and well-being, and to speak ‘About Europe’.
Other practicalities
- The Gozo Forum and Retreat ‘The Time We Spend Together’ will start on 4 July in the morning and conclude on 6 July in the evening. Participants are expected to arrive on 3 July and leave on 7 July.
- Participants can book a room from 3 to 7 July at the Gozo Forum Hotel: the Reef Hotel at a preferential rate of 135€/night. Contact EFA for more info.
- More details about the programme will be available soon.
Register for The Time We Spend Together: Gozo Forum 2026
Registrations are open on the EFA website until 25 May 2026.