Count Me In! Report on the survey on DEIAB in arts festivals
The report of the "Count Me In!" survey presenting approaches to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Belonging (DEIAB) in the seat of arts festivals is now available to all.
The "Count me in!" campaign invited festivals across Europe and beyond to reflect on their DEIAB practices. Through a survey and a call for stories, festivals shared their practices, challenges and ambitions. The campaign revealed a strong commitment to creating more inclusive and accessible spaces, while highlighting the need for deeper community engagement and structural support.
Festivals are celebrations of artistic expression, bringing people together across cultures, identities and experiences. In recognition of this role, the European Festivals Association (EFA) launched the “Count Me In!” campaign to explore how Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Belonging (DEIAB) are addressed within arts festivals.
Running from 17 September to 11 November 2024, the campaign included a Europe-wide survey and a call for stories. In total, 110 responses were received, with 94 valid entries analysed in the final report. Participants came from 34 countries across Europe and beyond, reflecting a wide range of artistic disciplines and organisational sizes.
The results highlighted both the progress made and the challenges ahead. A key priority identified by nearly 70% of respondents was the need to attract and engage more diverse audiences, particularly younger generations and people with disabilities. Many festivals expressed the desire to move beyond surface-level inclusion and foster deeper relationships with underrepresented communities.
Despite financial and structural constraints, festivals showed a strong commitment to creating spaces that are accessible, inclusive and reflective of the diversity in their regions. Partnerships, community engagement, and international collaboration emerged as central strategies for sustainable DEIAB work.
“Look around you, look at the people making the decisions in your organisation – not just superficially, but in terms of different aspects of their lived experience. If the representation amongst the people who are purported to be driving the change and development in this area lacks diversity and therefore your work is viewed through one dominant lens, it will continue to be more of a struggle to do this work.” Festival from the United Kingdom
“Change of mindset takes time, especially within a society that doesn't prioritise diversity, equity or inclusion.” Festival from Croatia
“Our festival promotes aesthetics, art forms, techniques, artists who apply and embody them, but were systemically excluded - to the point of being brought to the brink of loss of livelihood, collapse or abandonment of their careers and ideals.” Festival from Norway
EFA has learned a lot from the survey. All the answers received provided useful information to lead EFA’s actions in the upcoming months and years. Hearing their stories and having the chance to conduct interviews with some of the festivals that took part in the survey allowed EFA to see how festivals are really invested in the DEAIB topics, and the impact that those strategies are having in their communities. You can read and listen to them on FestivalFinder.eu. The call for stories goes on and festivals can continue to send their initiatives and experiments so that they can be shared with others and highlighted on EFA's platforms.
There are many initiatives, compilations and guides that exist and can be used for free. We've collected some first resources thanks to the survey. EFA is commited to continuing to bring festivals together so that they can exchange views on their DEIAB practices, and bring innovative and inspiring examples to their attention.
Diversity work applies within EFA itself. The “Count me in!” campaign kicked off with a statement endorsed by the EFA Board and Team. A further step was taken in April 2025 with the development of Caring Principles for the Arts Festivals Summit in Edinburgh. This document is a first reflection on how to build a caring and respectful environment in EFA’s events and make it explicit. It is a collaborative document on which participants are invited to share their suggestions.
EFA hopes to have raised awareness and interest of this topic and provided some ways for festivals to initiate or move a step forward in their diversity work. Festivals can be laboratories of DEIAB practices and should not be afraid in experimenting new ways of working within their teams, with the artists they programme, and the audiences that are attending, as well as with the audiences they wish to welcome. EFA will continue to act as a sounding board for what is happening on the field, and to support festivals in their needs and requests to be active players in our complex and constantly changing societies.
Credits
The Count me in! survey and campaign was carried out by the European Festivals Association, under the coordination of Audrey Brisack, Director Network and Communication, with the continued support of Ceyda Berk-Söderblom - Arts manager, curator, and festival programmer specialising in social inclusion, diversity, and inclusion management, and co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
The report is mainly written by the Budapest Observatory of Summa Artium.
The support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and doesn’t engage the responsibilty of the European Commission for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.