The EFFE Seal Catalogue #2 on Festivals, Health and Wellbeing
The EFFE Seal Catalogue #2 on Festivals, Health and Wellbeing brings together practices, experiences, policies, challenges and needs shared by festivals, cities and regions across Europe. It explores how festivals are engaging with health and wellbeing through artistic programming, participation, accessibility, community engagement, partnerships and organisational practices.
This catalogue was developed by the Festivals Care! Working Group, and in particular thanks to the drive of one of its members, Mirna Gott, and Ana Benavides Otero from the EFA team, as a continuation of the EFFE Seal Catalogue #1 on Environmental Sustainability. This second edition is part of EFA’s wider work on arts, health and wellbeing, and in particular of the Creative Europe-supported project CARE – Culture for Mental Health.
It is organised around seven themes: policy; programming and artistic approaches; operations, care practices and accessibility; partnerships; challenges and needs; learning and reported outcomes; and the role of the festival. As Mahir Namur reflects in his article The return of care: a living culture takes hold, this catalogue shows that the growing attention to care in festival practice is not accidental, but a response to the conditions of our time and a recognition that festivals can become spaces of connection, healing and shared responsibility.
This catalogue aims to be the continuation of a conversation among festivals and with policymakers. We hope it becomes a place where festivals can share not only practices and experiences, but also uncertainties, needs and challenges; where they can learn from one another and through peer exchange, while also strengthening dialogue with their local and regional authorities. In that sense, this catalogue is not only a record of existing practices and policies, but an invitation to continue shaping this field together.
The EFFE Seal Catalogue reinforces the EFFE Seal’s mission to foster better cooperation between festivals and their local authorities for the joint development of territories.
The cities and regions joining under the EFFE Seal for Festival Cities and Regions, an initiative of EFA, have also called on their festivals to share practices, proposals, ideas, and questions on the topic.
Currently, 35 cities and regions are participating in the EFFE Seal for Festivals Cities and Regions. This initiative offers a platform for more synergy between festivals and their territories. The aim is to recognise the commitment of city and regional authorities to their festivals and to exchange and explore ways of collaboration. It provides a forum to discuss and exchange local practices and policies related to festivals with colleagues from all over Europe.
Credits
This catalogue is an initiative of the European Festivals Association in the framework of the CARE – Culture for Mental Health project (2024–2027), led by Cluj Cultural Centre in partnership with the European Festivals Association, Društvo Asociacija, Culture Action Europe, Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture, Arts for Health Austria, and Centre for Fine Arts | Bozar Brussels, funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.