Festivals Care: Arts Festivals Summit 2025
The European Festivals Association (EFA) hosted the workshop The Festivals Care! Arts and Health at its 2025 Arts Festivals Summit on 29 April in Edinburgh, bringing together festival makers, researchers, and cultural leaders. The session was part of the CARE -Culture for Mental Health project, led by an international consortium coordinated by the Cluj Cultural Centre. The conversation continues on 20 May at the Mental Health Summit in the European Parliament, with two panels co-curated with Culture Action Europe on the role of culture in mental health.
Rarița Zbranca, Programme Director at Cluj Cultural Centre, facilitated the session and introduced the CARE - Culture for Mental Health project. Dr Katey Warran shared key research insights, followed by two inspiring festival case studies. The session wrapped up with a lively group discussion, where participants shared their experiences and ideas.
Dr Katey Warran highlighted how engagement with the arts can significantly enhance health and well-being (see presentation). Drawing on WHO research and large-scale longitudinal studies, she explained how the arts activate emotional, social, and behavioural mechanisms that support everything from mental health to social development. Festivals, she argued, are uniquely impactful: their immersive, collective nature fosters deep human connection, group identity, and a sense of belonging. Festivals offer moments of “collective effervescence”, a term used by sociologist Émile Durkheim to describe moments in societal life when a group of individuals participate in a collective ritual that can have profound psychosocial effects. Case studies from Healing Arts Scotland and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe illustrated how festivals can function as informal public health interventions, nurturing solidarity, joy, and inclusion. A call for further research concluded her presentation, emphasising a persistent gap in understanding how large-scale arts events contribute to public health.
Festival makers built on these ideas to present innovative festival-based initiatives that connect arts, health, and well-being in tangible ways:
Festival Fridays, a collaboration between the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) and Tonic Arts (NHS Lothian Charity), brings monthly live performances into hospital settings across 36 NHS sites in Scotland. Originating from a residency model with the London Symphony Orchestra, the initiative has evolved into flexible Festival Sessions, shaped by community needs and ongoing feedback. In 2024, 98% of participants reported a positive impact on their health and well-being. Reaching patients, staff, families, and visitors, the programme embeds the arts into everyday clinical environments, affirming cultural participation as a right, not a privilege.
At Germany’s Enjoy Jazz Festival, the 2024 edition centred around the theme of “Healing”, not in a medical sense, but as a response to global crises and social fragmentation. The festival featured concerts, workshops, and long-term projects with local schools, including a Well-being Concert developed by Carnegie Hall’s Education Department and guided by NYU professor Nisha Sajnani. This open, ritualised format encouraged audiences to engage with music in open and revitalising ways.
Following the presentations, all participants reflected on the deepening intersection between the arts, health, and well-being. A shared ambition emerged to strengthen ties with the health sector, through models such as “arts on prescription”, and to extend care to audiences and all those working behind the scenes in festivals.
There was broad appreciation for the opportunity to exchange ideas and spark collaboration. Involving healthcare professionals in future discussions was noted as essential to building meaningful cross-sector partnerships.
The group called for a dedicated strand on arts and well-being at future EFA Summits, and stressed the importance of including non-Western perspectives. Discussions around inclusion and accessibility were central: how to engage underrepresented communities and bring the arts beyond traditional venues.
Participants highlighted the value of learning from care practices already in place at other festivals. They also stressed the need for longer-term projects to build deeper, sustained cross-disciplinary relationships. The workshop affirmed a shared commitment to embedding care more fully within the festival landscape. For more insights, explore the full workshop report and power-point presentation.
Participants have also been invited to continue the conversation at the Mental Health Summit: Prevention and Recovery in Modern Society on 20 May at the European Parliament and online, in cooperation with the CARE project. Two panels co-organised by Culture Action Europe will explore the role of culture and the arts in mental health. Hosted by MEPs András Kulja and Zoltán Tarr, the event brings together policymakers, experts, and cultural leaders to explore mental health challenges in times of crisis and recovery, with a special focus on youth, prevention, and trauma-informed approaches. Speakers include the European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture, and Sport Glenn Micallef, MEP Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, Dr. Daisy Fancourt, Nils Fietje, Dr. Rarita Zbranca, Katy Geertsen, Stine Eskesen Keiding, Karl Lavò, Kornelia Kiss, among others. More information.