UK–EU Cultural and Artistic Exchanges
Festival makers, artists, producers, technical teams, and creative professionals across the European Union and the United Kingdom have joined forces to call for urgent action to remove the barriers to touring and cross-border collaboration.
A sector-wide appeal, signed by over 550 organisations and individuals, was formalised in an open letter sent on 13 May 2025 to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, European Council President António Costa, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. It was coordinated by the Musicians’ Union, the Association of British Orchestras, LIVE, Pearle*, the Independent Society of Musicians, and UK Music. Among the signatories was the European Festivals Association (EFA).
The open letter warned that the current touring arrangements between the UK and EU “are not working” and are depriving audiences, artists, and venues of the many benefits of cultural exchange. Since the UK departed from the EU in January 2020, there have been rising challenges of visas, work permits, carnets, merchandising rules, and cabotage restrictions for touring artists and crews.
This collective call for reform came just days ahead of two major events: the annual celebration of European music culminating with the 2025 Eurovision final on 17 May in Basel, Switzerland, and the EU-UK Summit held in London on 19 May.
At the Summit, EU and UK leaders adopted a new Common Understanding agreement, setting out shared commitments in various areas including food regulation, fishing, defence, and border checks. Notably, the agreement also addressed the issue of cultural exchange. In Point 15 of the nine-page document, both sides stated:
The European Commission and the United Kingdom recognise the value of travel and cultural and artistic exchanges, including the activities of touring artists. They will continue their efforts to support travel and cultural exchange.
EFA welcomes this political recognition of the importance of artistic mobility. The explicit inclusion of touring artists in the Common Understanding sends a positive signal to the performing arts sector. We urge policymakers to act on this commitment and invite continued dialogue with the festival sector.
Festival professionals are encouraged to make their voices heard
PRS for Music, the UK collective management organisation for songwriters, composers, and music publishers, is conducting a short survey to better understand how Brexit is affecting festival programming across the UK and EU. This research will help inform ongoing advocacy efforts and policy discussions aimed at improving cultural mobility:
In November 2024, our EFA Collective Member British Arts Festivals Association published the Festivals Forward sector research report at their annual conference in Bristol. The report states that Britain’s arts festivals have become an integral part of the nation’s arts ecology and a cultural backbone for communities across the country. They are creative powerhouses engaging significant numbers of artists and audiences, and play a key role in commissioning and programming new work, but are struggling to survive amidst rising costs and static income.
Britain’s arts festivals now confront a range of challenges but they have much to build on. Festivals are powerhouses of creativity and catalysts for the imaginations of whole communities. We must harness this to re-imagine their place in our lives.
The research finds that the 101 festivals taking part in the survey between them produced 1,111 days of programmed events and registered more than 5 million in-person attendances (ticketed and non-ticketed), engaged almost 34,000 artists and ensembles and presented more than 2,700 new works.
It says arts festivals represent a vibrant sector that should be seen as integral to the wider cultural sector of the UK and describes the average arts festival as hyperlocal, with 40% of audiences from within five miles, and often urban (61%), taking place in multiple venues for up to five days every year for a range of arts forms.
However, Festivals Forward reveals how many festivals are facing significant financial challenges and having to exploit reserves to cover a £20,000 gap between their average spend of £245,000 and average income of £225,000 after facing rising costs over the last few years.