‘Eye-to-Eye’ is the European Festivals Association’s (EFA) Festival Quarterly. It assembles a variety of voices that speak about our society, the state of the arts and reasons why the arts exist, concepts, and moments in contemporary life. It includes articles EFA commissions and material we ask editors to provide. It reflects EFA’s journey to broaden our conversations and dig into the habitat of festivals, taking us well beyond the process of festival making.
Eye-to-Eye is published every 4 months.
The European Festivals Association community
The European Festivals Association (EFA) is a trusted alliance of festival makers representing:
- 100 EFA members; strong and long standing festivals coming from different countries in Europe and beyond,
- More than 4000 festivals in 45 countries registered on FestivalFinder.eu, among which 823 festivals received the EFFE Label 2024-2025 – these numbers are growing daily,
- 1056 alumni of The Festival Academy who have followed one or several training programmes,
- 80 cities contributing and participating in the Festival Cities Initiative.
Honorary Members • Darko Brlek • Gavin Henderson • Massimo Mercelli • José Louis Ocejo • Filiz Sarper • Paul Dujardin • Piñeiro Nagy • Michael Herrmann • Frans De Ruiter (1946 – 2025)
Board Members • Jan Briers (President) • Sophie Detremmerie (Vice-President) • Francesco Maria Perrotta (Vice-President) • Franco Belletti • Alexandra Bobes • Tamar Brüggemann • Jurriaan Cooiman • Thomas Hummel • Milena Lubarda Marojevic • Natalia Oszkó-Jakab • Katie Paterson
Members • Abu Dhabi Festival • Africa simply the best • Anibar International Animation Festival • Ankara International Music Festival • Aspendos International Opera & Ballet Festival • Athens Epidaurus Festival • Audi Sommerkonzerte • Avignon Off Festival • BBC Proms • Berliner Festspiele • Body & Soul Festival • BOZAR Festival • Bratislava Music Festival • Campania Teatro Festival • Cistermúsica – Alcobaça Music Festival • Collegium Vocale Crete Senesi Summer Festival • Concertgebouw Brugge • Construction Festival • Culturescapes • De Bijloke • De Singel • Divine Comedy Festival • DokuFest • Dubrovnik Summer Festival • Emilia Romagna Festival • Edinburgh International Festival • Enjoy Jazz Festival For Jazz and More • Estoril Lisbon Festival • European Festival of Performing Arts Timisoara – New Romanian Drama Festival • Fabula Festival • Festival Peralada • Festival della Valle d’Itria • Festival Delle Nazioni • Flanders Festival International • Festival Ibiza Conciertos • Festival Internacional de Teatro Clásico de Mérida • Festival Jordi Savall • Festival Ljubljana • Festival Musica Viva • Festival of Contemporary Art GogolFest • Festival Udine Castello • Gdansk Shakespeare Festival • George Enescu International Festival and Competition • Helsinki Festival • Holland Festival • International Antalya Piano Festival • International Music Festival Arsana • International Festival Wratislavia Cantans • International Izmir Festival • International Music Festival of Central and Eastern Europe Eufonie • International Theatre Festival KONTAKT • International Theatre Festival TheATRIUM • Georgian International Festival of Arts – GIFT • Israel Festival • I Suoni Delle Dolomiti • Khachaturian International Festival • KharkivMusicFest • Klassisk i Sentrum • Kulturhaltestelle • Les Festivals de Wallonie • Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival • Macerata Opera Festival • Malta International Arts Festival • Manchester International Festival • Maribor Theatre Festival • Mittelfest • Montenegro Creative Collective • Mosel Musikfestival • Müpa Budapest • Music Biennale Zagreb • Noorderzon Festival • Oeiras International Piano Festival • Ohrid Summer Festival • ODESSA CLASSICS Music Festival • Open Air International Theatre Festival “Prizren Fest” • Piccolo Opera Festival • Plovdiv Drama Theatre • POLIS Teatro Festival • Prague German Speaking Theatre Festival • Prague Spring International Music Festival • Ravenna Festival • ReMusica • Rialto Theatre • Rossini Opera Festival • RUTA Festival • Sacrum Profanum Festival • Saint-Denis Festival • Sarajevo Fest • Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival • SKUPI Kammerfest • Spoleto Festival Dei Due Mondi • SPRING Performing Arts Festival Utrecht • südtirol festival merano . meran • Teatro Aveirense • Theatre City Budva • The TheaterFestival • Theatre World Festival Brno • Turkish State Theatres • Turkiye Culture Route Festivals • Usedom Music Festival • Utrecht Early Music Festival • Valley of Arts Festival • Varna Summer International Music Festival • Vilnius Festival • Vicenza Opera Festival • Wonderfeel • Yerevan International Theatre Festival • Association Festivals Bulgaria • Association of Irish Festival Events (AOIFE) • British arts festivals association – BAFA • Bulgarian Festivals Association • Czech Association of Music Festivals • Federation of Music Festivals in Flanders • Festivals Edinburgh • Finland Festivals • France Festivals • ItaliaFestival • Norwegian Live • Rotterdam Festivals • Sicheslav Festival Association “ArtEthnoFest” • Spanish Association of Classical Music Festivals • Sweden Festivals • Association of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centres (AAPPAC) • European Early Music Network (EEMN/REMA) • IETM – International network for contemporary performing arts • World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC)
Publication date: June 2026
Direction of the E-Magazine: Kathrin Deventer
Editing coordination: Audrey Brisack
Photograph cover: Anibar International Animation Festival © Anibar International Animation Festival
Texts: Shahidul Alam, Abduljabbar Alsuhili & Mohammed Almahfali, Ana Benavides Otero, Boris Liješević, Ana Schnabl, Predrag Zenović
Contributing Editor: Simon Mundy
Website: Hamadou KA – Maks vzw
Graphic design: Quasi – Maks vzw
Publisher: European Festivals Association
With the continuous support of: Gert Naessens, Ana Benavides Otero, Donika Rudi Berishaj, Luana Santos, Ernest Thiesmeier
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval devices or systems, without prior written permission from the publisher, except that brief passages may be quoted for review.
The support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and doesn’t engage the responsibilty of the European Commission for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
