EFFE Keurmerk

Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe – EFFE is an action initiated by the European Festivals Association (EFA), supported by the European Commission and Parliament. EFFE brings the arts to the attention of festival audiences through a searchable database, FestivalFinder.eu, that serves all sorts of interactions and initiatives recognizing the work of Europe’s diverse arts festivals landscape. Europe is in constant development and change. EFFE’s strength is in its diversity; its offer to have a discussion about the possibilities to give the arts more space within our societies.

 

The EFFE Label is Europe’s quality stamp for remarkable arts festivals showing their engagement in the field of the arts, community involvement and international openness. 

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The EFFE Label was handed out to festivals after being evaluated by international experts in the festival world. These labelled festivals fulfill a minimum of 7 out of the following 10 quality standards. 

 

These festivals are embedded in the European artistic, cultural and social reality as well as: 

• presenting a coherent and curated artistic programme;

• supporting on-going artistic development (some examples of this are: offering residencies to artists, contributing to new creations, and supporting artistic research);

• providing opportunities for upcoming or innovative artists to create or to be presented in your programme;

• being rooted in its’ local community fostering local connections in the programme and among the performers/performances. The festival involves local artists as well as local audiences in its projects;

• helping to increase access to culture and attract diverse audiences. (some examples include different socio-economic backgrounds, age groups, genders, and cultures);

• taking measures to be more sustainable. This can refer to environment, economics, business models, and social impacts;

• helping to shape, encourage and promote intercultural experiences for your audiences and artists;

• embracing inclusivity as a core principle and practice;

• investing in innovation and capacity building;

• engaging with audiences, for example through educational programmes.