The Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival has joined EFA!

24 November 2021
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At 24th November 2021 the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre has joined the European Festivals Association!

The EFA Network, founded in 1952, connects about 100 festivals and festival associations in 40 countries. EFA members are the core element that make the Association an open, influential, international place for any festival that wants to be part of a bigger festival community. The European Festivals Association’s mission is to unite and represent its member festivals across Europe and the world by contributing to the artistic life of Europe.

The Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival’s representatives: Agata Grenda, the new director of both the Festival and the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre and Festival’s coordinator Joanna Śnieżko-Misterek took part in the Arts Festivals Summit on 22 – 24 November 2021 in Galway, hosted by AOIFE – the Association of Irish Festivals and Events. It was during this event that the Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival has been admitted as a new EFA member.

EFA’s Arts Festivals Summit was a moment of connection, exchange, networking and togetherness for the festivals community in the vibrant city of Galway. 110 delegates from all over Europe and beyond as well as 50 online delegates came to Galway or joined through zoom or livestreams from 22 to 24 November 2021. Hosted by the Association of Irish Festivals and Events (AOIFE), the Summit was also the occasion to meet the Irish festivals, to speak about potential collaborations and co-production projects, to dive into the Irish culture with “Walk and Talk tours”, to listen to showcases by local artists, and to discover the beautiful landscapes of Galway Bay.

On the occasion of the 69th General Assembly, EFA members – among them many that have joined the association since the beginning of the pandemic – voted in ten new festivals from various art disciplines (music, dance and theatre) and countries to be part of the community. They reinforce and enlarge EFA’s wish for more diversity, inclusion and relevance on a geographical and artistic level. Among these new members, there is: BITEF – Belgrade International Theatre Festival (Serbia), Campania Teatro Festival (Italy), Castleknock Music Festival (Ireland), Gdansk Shakespeare Festival (Poland), Helsinki Festival (Finland), Khachaturian International Festival (Armenia), Klanglichter Festival (Switzerland), Machol Shalem Dance House (Israel), North Cyprus International Bellapais Music Festival (North Cyprus), and Norway Festival (Norway).

See the festivals joinig EFA network, together with the Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival:

On the picture above, from the left:
Joanna Śnieżko-Misterek – The Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival Coordinator
Agata Grenda – Direcror of the The Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre and Festival
Anna Kiselyova – Castle Knock Music Festival
Kathrin Deventer – EFA Secretary General
Jan Briers – EFA President
Bartosz Szydłowski – Artistic Director of Łaźnia Nowa Theatre and Boska Komedia Festival in Krakov