The European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists - EFFEA is an initiative of the European Festivals Association that offers emerging artists a platform to develop their careers on an international level through festivals.
What is EFFEA?
Festivals act as fertile ground for tapping into and expanding talents. They are spaces of exchange between artists and the public, facilitate connections among artists themselves and with other professionals. Festivals are alchemists of innovation, curators of risk-taking endeavours, both guardians and intermediary springboards for artists across artistic disciplines. The European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists – EFFEA, an initiative of the European Festivals Association, is a system built to empower festivals and offer emerging artists a platform to establish themselves on the international stage. EFFEA extends an open invitation for festivals to work across borders and create a network of colleagues with shared goals. It recognises that the future lies in the synergy of diverse perspectives and collective efforts. Through EFFEA, festivals join hands to foster the success of emerging artists. EFFEA is the next step in a movement of festivals in Europe that recognise themselves and commit to working together at a European level. It builds on the preparatory action called EFFE: Europe for Festivals Festivals for Europe.
Main Objectives
- To offer emerging artists more opportunities to present their work and develop their career on an international level
- To offer festivals cross-border co-operation opportunities on the topic of emerging artists
- To offer audiences new and surprising encounters with emerging artists in their towns and cities through the platforms of their festivals
Who will benefit from this Fund?
Festivals
How? Expanded network of festivals; Collaboration with peers; New programmes and new artists; Financial support to promote the work of emerging artists at a European level.
Emerging Artists proposed by the Festivals
How? Time and space to develop ideas; Network of programmers and local artists in different countries; Residencies, seminars and workshops/ masterclasses; European visibility; Capacity-building; New presentation contexts.
Audiences
How? Access to new talents and repertoire; Access to diverse and interdisciplinary works.
Between 1 June 2024 and 31 May 2025, 58 emerging artists and 160 festivals selected under EFFEA Call #3 are working on their residency programmes throughout Europe and beyond.
The next EFFEA Call will be announced in the second half of 2025 and will support residencies occurring in 2026. More details will follow.
To stay updated, please visit the website news section and Facebook page regularly. We also encourage you to join the EFFEA Facebook Community, a platform where you can connect with fellow artists and festival organisers
News
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04-06-25 EFFEA Story: Georgia Tsangaraki
Residency of Georgia Tsangaraki hosted by Buzau International Arts Festival in partnership with Festival Antivaro -
22-05-25 EFFEA Story: Sarah Vella
Residency of Sarah Vella hosted by Dance Festival Malta in partnership with Frei Art Festival -
01-05-25 EFFEA Story: Anna Gruver
Residency of Anna Gruver hosted by Miłosz Festival in partnership with TRANSLATORIUM Literary and Translation Festival -
22-04-25 EFFEA Story: Nestor Vasilakis
Residency of Nestor Vasilakis, hosted by Rhodes & South Aegean International Jazz Festival in partnership with Bodrum Jazz Festival &... -
11-04-25 Arts Festivals Summit 2025: EFFEA Artists and Festivals in the Spotlight
From 27 to 30 April 2025, the European Festivals Association will gather its community for the annual summit in The Festival City –... -
07-04-25 EFFEA Story: Sabir Project
Residency of Sabir Project, hosted by Mahdia Improvise Festival in partnership with Tolfama – International Festival of Improvised ... -
20-03-25 EFFEA Call #2: A Reflection
Between April 2023 and July 2024, something quietly radical happened. EFFEA Call #2 unfolded as a Europe-wide framework that em... -
24-02-25 EFFEA Story: Petr Dlouhý & Bek Berger
Residency of Petr Dlouhý and Bek Berger, hosted by Heartefact Pride Theatre Festival in partnership with New Performance Turku Bie...