EFA Monthly Digest for March 2026
Each month Simon Mundy highlights what is happening across the European Festivals Association (EFA)’s network, offering a glimpse of the many ways our community is active across Europe and beyond.
From classical and early music to literature, and from forums to celebrations and competitions, March is a vibrant month full of events across Belgium, Slovenia, Poland, Scotland, Hungary, and more.
Klarafestival (Flanders Festival International) — 20–29 March 2026, Belgium
The Klara Festival in Brussels has for years been one of the most innovative and interesting features of classical (in its widest sense) music in Brussels. The festival started as a collaboration between the Klara radio station and the main Brussels concert venues like BOZAR and Flagey but has now spread throughout the city and beyond. It is particularly good at presenting works by contemporary composers and those performers who mix different art forms and explore unusual venues. The radio relays remain at its heart and, thanks to the European Union's swapping system, are often taken up by stations in other countries.
Simon's programme tip: Look out for the concert in Galerie Ravenstein (21 March 4pm) featuring Sarah Bayens (violin), Guy Danel (cello) and, from EFA member Odessa Classics, Alexey Botvinov (piano) playing Moments of Memory (V) commissioned by six festivals from Ukraine's best known composer, Valentin Silvestrov.
Check out their EFA Member page here.
Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival — 22 March–3 April 2026, Poland
Neither of the founders of this crucial festival in Warsaw, Elzbieta Penderecka and her husband, the great composer Krzysztof Penderecki, are still with us, though both were from the festival's start in 2003 until this decade. The Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival lives on after them and there are concerts throughout Poland mixing classics (it is the Beethoven festival after all) with a good sprinkling of Penderecki.
Simon's programme tip: Sinfonia Varsovia (National Philharmonic Hall 29 March 8pm) including Penderecki's Chaconne In Memoriam Giovanni Paul II and Brahms' Violin Concerto with the superb Vadim Gluzman as soloist. I should mention too my friend Barry Douglas, who gives a piano recital at 11.30 that morning.
Check out their EFA Member page here.
Festival Fabula — 25 February–31 March 2026, Slovenia
Slovenia's biggest literary festival, Festival Fabula, is running all this month in Ljubljana's main arts centre and concert hall, Cankarjev Dom. Produced by the Beletrina Publishing House, this year the theme is (Co)Responsible, drawing attention to 'one of the most urgent questions of our era: how do we co-exist and act responsibly within a world shaken by crises of trust, truth, and collective agency?' It is a theme that will also be discussed next month in Slovenia's Alpine town of Bled, where the Writers for Peace committee of PEN International, which campaigns for writers' freedom, meets each year. You will find me speaking there.
Check out their EFA Member page here.
Scottish Festivals Forum — Tuesday 10 March 2026, Scotland
For those who want to delve into many of the issues facing festivals, the British Arts Festivals Association is holding a one day forum at the Edinburgh Futures Institute this month. All sorts of current political preoccupations that affect festivals will be on the agenda with input from two of the city's universities. It is organised by the British Arts Festivals Association in collaboration with Association of Independent Festivals, Edinburgh Napier University, University of Edinburgh, and Creative Scotland.
Check out their EFA Member page here.
Early Music Day is 21 March
Le Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne (REMA) is the EFA collective member organisation that brings together all those specialists in music from the past sung and played in ways that reflect the manner in which it was written. Ever since the 1960s, ensembles and festivals have been exploring and adding to this rich heritage. Each year Early Music Day shines a special light on the genre, with performances, talks and seminars across Europe, live and online. Many of the events are registered with REMA so that they are easy to find on its programme for the day.
Check out their EFA Member page here.
Solti International Conducting Competition, open for applications until 20 March.
Emulating Sir Georg Solti as a conductor will not be easy. He was charismatic but also fiercesome on the podium, insisting on the rigours of rhythmic precision from orchestra and soloists. Despite the disciplinarian reputation, in private he was good company with a very wry sense of humour. He died in 1997 but a conducting competition is now being launched in his honour in Hungary – a country he left after the Soviet Union stamped out its freedoms in 1956. Those entering should remember to communicate to the orchestra with their eyes and use the baton firmly, otherwise Sir Georg's ghost will not be amused.
Check out their EFA Member page here.