Reports & presentations - Arts Festivals Summit 2026
Find all the reports and presentations from the sessions of EFA's Arts Festivals Summit 2026 from 16 to 19 May in Budva (Montenegro), hosted by Theatre City Budva.
Keynotes
You can dive back in the keynotes of the Arts Festivals Summit Budva by reading them in the Spring edition of our e-magazine "Eye-to-Eye, The Festival Quarterly"
- Art in times of hyperpolitics - Ana Schnabl
- Repairing the past in the Western Balkans through theatre - Boris Liješević
- Montenegro and Europe: From arts to politics and back - Predrag Zenović
The Festival Academy invites: How open are our conversations?
Sunday, 17 May | 9.00-11.00
This workshop asked what stops us from being open, trying to tackle the topic from personal, curatorial to systemic and geopolitical levels. What kind of openness is disappearing, and what forms of openness are more needed than ever? The Festival Academy invited participants to reflect on these shifting conditions and to consider what practices might help us to remain open. Facilitated by Niranjani Iyer, Founder and Director of The Pocket Company and d.r.i.f.t, and Emma Hay, Senior Programme Manager at Edinburgh International Festival.
Festivals, Cities and Regions: common challenges, joint strategies?
Sunday, 17 May | 9.00-11.00
This workshop continued the conversation on the relationship between festivals and their local authorities. Building on the long-term collaboration developed through the EFFE Seal for Festival Cities and Regions initiative. It referred to Elena Polivtseva’s research Festivals in Context, the recently launched ‘About Europe’ initiative and its diverse reflections shared by artists, festival makers and politicians from local and European levels as well as a series of tandem conversations between artists and politicians by A Soul for Europe. Facilitated by Nicolas Bertrand, Manager and independent consultant, and Nele Hertling, Director of the Performing Arts section of the Academy of Arts Berlin.
Smart Culture: Tapping into data intelligence and collaboration for festivals and cities
Sunday, 17 May | 9.00-11.00
Presented by the EXCENTRIC project, this session explored how festivals can move beyond siloed spreadsheets to build collaborative data practices that address operational challenges and help them become stronger partners within their ecosystems. Participants dived into the Oulu European Capital of Culture 2026 to explore their ongoing efforts to connect internal festival data with external intelligence – such as traffic, mobility, and weather – to support smoother operations and audience experiences. Expanding from this concrete cultural producer's perspective, the conversation opened up to the realities of ecosystem collaboration. Lutz Henke, visitBerlin, and Agnia Nast, Visit Estonia, brought their viewpoints at the city and national levels.
Beyond borders regional and cross-border collaborations
Sunday, 17 May | 9.00-11.00
This session explored how festivals across Europe, starting from the region, collaborate to share ideas, best practices and support one another. It looked at what drives cross-border partnerships today, the needs they respond to and how festivals can build sustainable networks beyond short-term projects. The discussion also considered how these collaborations shape artistic programming, audience development, knowledge exchange, and what strengthens international partnerships. Facilitated by Milica Popovic, cultural manager, marketing strategist, educator, and creative project developer.
EFA towards 75
Sunday, 17 May | 9.00-11.00
Festivals' questions and viewpoints feed into EFA’s strategy towards its 75th anniversary in 2027 and beyond: What is at stake for festivals? How to connect long‑term thinking with emerging realities across the festival sector? What responsibilities come with visibility, networks and public support? Where should EFA focus its energy in the years to come?
Building on the 70-Years-On Thinking Group's reflections and the 70-Years-On Agenda that guides EFA’s work, this session invited a wider group to think about the current needs and opportunities of the festivals and arts sector.
The Music Focus
Monday, 18 May | 12.45-14.15
Music festivals today navigate shifting audience expectations, partnerships, business models, and organisational realities. Participants exchanged practices, explored opportunities for collaboration across local and international contexts and discussed innovative approaches with colleagues from the field. Facilitated by Donika Rudi Berishaj, composer, festival director and project director of European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists (EFFEA), and Ward Bosmans, musicologist, archivist, and culture worker, with the contribution of Daniela Tomaz, musician and cultural entrepreneur.
Festivals and environmental sustainability: cross-cultural cooperation in a green sustainable & social context
Monday, 18 May | 12.45-14.15
What are the dilemmas in green and socially sustainable cultural mobility and cooperation? What are the tensions between being environmentally friendly and being socially fair, especially for those working for on the periphery? This workshop invited festival makers to discuss sustainable practices taking into account budget, touring, audience travels, etc. Facilitated by Matina Magkou, Researcher, Lecturer and Consultant, Peter Florence, co-Founder of the European Festivals Forest and Tamar Brüggemann, director of Wonderfeel.
Festivals, health and well-being in their local contexts
Monday, 18 May | 12.45-14.15
This workshop explored arts, health, and well-being through the lens of the relation between festivals and their local authorities. Participants reflected on key questions: How can festivals contribute to health and well-being - both for the communities they serve and for the artists and cultural workers who make them? What kinds of partnerships between festivals, the health sector, and local or regional authorities make this possible? What kinds of local cultural policies are needed to support such partnerships? This workshop is part of the Creative Europe-supported project CARE – Culture for Mental Health, facilitated by Rarita Zbranca, programme director of Cluj Cultural Centre and Mahir Namur, cultural manager, psychological counselor, and lecturer.
Measuring what matters: Social impact and shared data practices in festivals
Monday, 18 May | 12.45-14.15
This session presented by the EXCENTRIC project explored how cultural and creative actors can develop meaningful data practices and impact assessment approaches that reflect the complexity of their work, while remaining attentive to economic, cultural, social, and environmental value. It dived into the early-stage journey of the Krakow Festival Office (KBF) as they develop a Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework to align their operational scale with their core mission. Facilitated by Stefano Russo, Researcher and lecturer at Erasmus University Rotterdam, with Monica Corcoran, Strategic Development Manager at the Arts Council of Ireland; Andy Gawin Warby, Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts; James McVeigh, Head of Innovation and Marketing at Festivals Edinburgh; Margarita Vladimirova, Cultural manager, creative (re)searcher and practitioner at KBF.
Optimising the cost of funding
Monday, 18 May | 12.45-14.15
Fundraising, reporting, and compliance demand significant time and resources from festival teams. How can we make these tasks work for our own goals instead of just adding to our workload? In this workshop, we will share strategies and tactics to optimise the cost of funding and adopt efficient evaluation and documentation practices. Facilitated by Fanny Martin, executive director of Music Biennale Zagreb.
Beyond audience development
Monday, 18 May | 12.45-14.15
How do festivals move from audience development to building lasting relationships with communities rooted in inclusion and trust? This session aims to discuss tested approaches, from artistic formats to organisational strategies and emerging tools, including AI, that can help festivals connect with underrepresented groups and sustain engagement across festival editions. Facilitated by Max Beckham-Ortner and Hannah Falvey.