215 festival specialists gathered this week in Edinburgh for the European Arts Festivals Summit 2025.
Hosted by the Edinburgh International Festival, Festivals Edinburgh, and the City of Edinburgh Council, the Arts Festivals Summit 2025 of the European Festivals Association’s (EFA) welcomed over 200 festival professionals for a four-day conversation about festivals, arts, and the role of arts festivals today.
With 215 delegates participating from 44 countries, it has brought diverse perspectives, questions, and themes forward on how festivals can assume a responsible role towards their artists, audiences and societies in an ever-changing world.
Edinburgh International Festival Director, Nicola Benedetti opened the Summit with a keynote talk on her experience of taking on the role and how her perspective as a performing artist has shaped her approach to curation, collaboration and connection.
Ms Benedetti shared reflections on the importance of holding in balance a deep respect for the past whilst providing a fertile ground for daring innovation, risk and unbridled creativity.
Delegates heard from a range of different voices and perspectives to gain a greater understanding of the interaction between festivals and their city, particularly in the case of Edinburgh, and explored the different aspects that contribute to Edinburgh’s success story.
They had the chance to meet the network of Festivals that exists in Edinburgh and the eleven festivals that contribute to Edinburgh’s unique reputation as The Festival City.
Fittingly Edinburgh is one of the founding members of the recently established EFFE Seal for Festival Cities and Regions, run by EFA which was developed by seven cities – Belgrade, Bergen, Edinburgh, Ghent, Krakow, Leeuwarden, and Ljubljana – to build on the achievements of the EU-funded Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe – EFFE programme and sets out to build co-operation between cities and their festivals across Europe.
During the Summit, four cities signed up to the EFFE Seal: Nis (Serbia), Budapest II District (Hungary), Coimbra (Portugal) and Tampere (Finland).
The EFFE Seal recognises cities for their commitment to their festival communities and aims to promote creativity, sustainability, internationalism, and resilience through knowledge exchange.
The future of festivals and their place in society focused delegates on how festivals contribute to societal topics such as sustainability, inclusion, well-being and freedom of speech, discussed from the point of best practices, learning from failures, perspectives and innovative proposals.
Inspiring keynotes by Roman Krznaric, author and social philosopher, and Elena Polivtseva, independent researcher and a co-founder of Culture Policy Room, challenged participants to think through the current tests the arts are facing, their vision for the future and the importance of long term thinking.
Nicola Benedetti, Festival Director, Edinburgh International Festival, said: “The Edinburgh International Festival exists to spark dialogue and cultural exchange – not only on our stages, but across communities and borders.
“It was a privilege to host the European Festivals Association’s 2025 Summit at The Hub, our home in the heart of the Festival City – where the International Festival sparked what is now the largest cultural celebration after the Olympics, every August in Edinburgh.
“Being surrounded by such a dynamic gathering of cultural leaders was a powerful reminder that the most enduring festivals and institutions are driven by a deeper desire to change society for the better.
“Coming together with our international counterparts to reflect, challenge, and collaborate on how we can deepen our impact was both energising and essential.”
Jan Briers, President of European Festivals Association affirmed: “The Summit in Edinburgh was full of new information, permanent networking, and making new collaborations and friends.
“It was a wonderful edition during which festivals coming from many different contexts discussed the future and its shape.”
Lori Anderson, Director of Festivals Edinburgh added: “Seeing our European festival colleagues inspired by cultural conversations across the city, and exhilarated by the beauty of Edinburgh, has been not only heartening but deeply moving – and reminds us that, in the current climate of global uncertainly, there is so much that unites us and so much to gain from deeper international relationships”.
EFA Members elected their President giving a continued mandate to its current chair, Jan Briers
Jan BRIERS shared: “I am pleased to continue to chair this wonderful organisation and being elected in Edinburgh is very meaningful for my new mandate.”
Michael Herrmann, Founder and Director of the Rheingau Music Festival, has been appointed as new Honorary Member of EFA.
The Summit concluded with the handing over of Edinburgh to Budva, Montenegro.
“We are excited about the opportunity to host the Arts Festivals Summit in Budva next year. The gem of the Western Balkans has many things to offer.
We are committed to make sure delegates enjoy a fruitful and unforgettable stay.“, said Milena Lubarda Marojević, Director of Theatre City Budva that will host EFA’s next Arts Festivals Summit in April 2026.
During the Summit, 22 new organisations joined EFA, reinforcing EFA’s desire to increase the more diversity of its membership and adding to the Association’s relevance at a geographical and artistic level.
New members include Africa Simply The Best (Belgium), Anibar International Animation Festival (Kosovo), DokuFest (Kosovo), Festival Fabula (Slovenia), Festival Música Viva (Portugal), Food Film Fest Bergamo (Italy), I Suoni Delle Dolomiti (Italy), KotorArt International Festival (Montenegro), Maribor Theatre Festival (Slovenia), Oeiras International Piano Festival (Portugal), ReMusica Festival (Kosovo), SPRING Utrecht Performing Arts Festival (Netherlands), Turkish State Theatres (Türkiye), and Vicenza Opera Festival (Italy). Five Ukrainian festivals have been reconducted in their membership, expressing EFA’s solidarity with the country: Construction Festival, Festival of Contemporary Art “Gogolfest”, Kharkiv Music Fest, Odessa Classics Music Festival, and Ukrainian Festival Association “Art-Ethno Fest”.
Three organisations also joined as collective and affiliate members: Creative Island (United Kingdom), the Association of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centres (AAPPAC) and the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC).
