European Festival Summit
18-20 November 2024, Alter Schlachthof, Karlsruhe, Germany
YOUROPE, the most important organization representing popular music festivals in Europe, is inviting all festival organizers, interested stakeholders and event professionals to participate in the European Festival Summit. The Summit is your exclusive opportunity to meet like-minded people from all over Europe in a relaxed atmosphere and to take a look to the future together.
The brightest minds in the festival industry will share their knowledge, internationally renowned scientists will provide insights into relevant research, and experts from various fields will support our participants with their specialist expertise. Together with them and you, we want to find out what the resilience, responsibility and relevance of popular music festivals looks like today and tomorrow.
We are really looking forward to two amazing days that are all about popular music festivals and therefore about you. This is your chance to meet your peers and even more people who will help you progress. Be there when the festival family meets at the first European Festival Summit.
The summit will take place in Karlsruhe – in the very heart of Europe. We will meet in the creative quarter of the city in the southwest of Germany, which is one of the main transport interfaces of European mobility. Excellent connections with various means of transport are available.
The European Festival Summit consists of
Mon, 18 November, 19h: Warm-up and Get-Together
Tue, 19 November, full day: Summit Day 1 & Evening Event
Wed, 20 November, until approx. 16.30h: Summit Day 2
Registration
European Festival Summit registration fee:
- €150 regular price, incl. all fees
- €100 special rate for YOUROPE members only, incl. all fees
(if you feel entitled to this discount, but don’t know the code, please get in touch with us: )
Please note that YOUROPE is a non-profit organization. Thus, according to Section 19, Paragraph 1 of the German VAT Act, no VAT is charged on the registration fee.
Photo: YOUROPE member Pohoda Festival by Martina Mlcuchova
Program
Panels, presentations, interactive sessions and keynote interviews complement each other to create a valuable program in which everyone should find something interesting. Excursions, networking and leisure time events complete two days that exclusively revolve around festivals and their organizers – but without forgetting to think outside the box.
Session topics include:
- 60 wild minutes on the future with futurologist Max Thinius
- “Quo vadis, festivals?” Major festival executives discuss where we’ll go from here
- Festivals and Generation Z – habits, demands, trends
- Independent festivals – chances & challenges
- The joys of outdoors: Extreme weather
- Embracing data: Festivals and AI
- Mega events & cities
- Festivals and cyber safety
- Lowlands, legend, legacy – keynote interview with Eric van Eerdenburg
- The social responsibility of festivals
- UTOPIA for a better world – the Roskilde Festival case study
- PTV Excursion – A visit to potential futures of planning and management of Zone Ex, beyond, and within
- Radical Love & Green Impact – the Boom Festival case study
- European funding opportunities for festivals
- The (almost) legendary 3D future mapping workshop – presented by GO Group
- Are popular music festivals the new cultural heritage?
- Music Ambassadors for Ukraine – documentary screening and Q&A
- Can Music Save Ukraine? – supporters and activists roundtable
- The importance of “live” – music & emotions
- Scenario-based safety exercise – presented by YES Group
- Fair and sustainable temporary buildings
- and more
Speakers
We’re happy to welcome some of Europe’s greatest festival minds on stage at the European Festival Summit in Karlsruhe. Experts from the various fields of festival management and production as well as external experts will provide us with know-how and expertise in areas that will be crucial for festivals in the future. Here is a list of the speakers confirmed so far in alphabetical order. More pics and bios will follow in the coming weeks:
- Jacob Bilabel | Green Culture Anlaufstelle & Green Operations (GO) Group (DE) – new!
- Dr. Ulrich Blahak | DWD – German Weather Service (DE) – new!
- Lydia Braune | Styleheads (DE) – new!
- Cindy Castillo | Mad Cool Festival (ES) – new!
- Mika Christoffersen | Roskilde Festival (DK)
- Prof. Moritz Dörstelmann | KIT – Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE) – new!
- Kara Djurhuus | Roskilde Festival (DK)
- James Drury | IQ Magazine (UK)
- Eugenie “EJ” Encalarde | Festival Productions Inc., New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (US)
- Eric van Eerdenburg | Lowlands Festival / Mojo Concerts (NL)
- Prof. Dr. Sascha Frühholz | Universität Zürich (CH)
- Sabine Funk | IBIT GmbH & YOUROPE Event Safety (YES) Group (DE)
- Dr. Beatriz Garcia | University of Liverpool (ES) – new!
- Tobias Grimm | Munich Reinsurance (DE) – new!
- Prof. Paula Guerra | University of Porto (PT) – new!
- Manfred von Hebel | Jugend für Europa / Erasmus+ (DE)
- Christof Huber | Gadget Entertainment Group & YOUROPE (CH)
- Michal Kaščák | Pohoda Festival (SK)
- Dr. Tobias Kretz | PTV (DE) – new!
- Prof. Dr. Michael Kunz | KIT – Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE) – new!
- Rüdiger Linhof | Sportfreunde Stiller (DE) – new!
- Mariana Macedo | Boom Festival / Good Mood (PT)
- Arnaud Meersseman | AEG presents France (FR)
- Urs Meier | Garden of Youth (DE) – new!
- Andreas Mestka | OpenAir St.Gallen & YES Group (CH) – new!
- Mariana Mokrynska | Ukrainian Association of Music Events (UAME) & Music saves Ukraine (UA) – new!
- Mikko Niemelä | Ruisrock Festival (FI) – new!
- Claire O’Neill | A Greener Future (UK)
- Achim Ostertag | Summer Breeze Open Air (DE)
- Marta Pallarès | Primavera Sound (ES) – new!
- Marie Sabot | We Love Green (FR) – new!
- Holger Jan Schmidt | YOUROPE (DE)
- Lea Stöver | Creative Europe Desk, Germany (DE)
- Prof. Dr. York Sure-Vetter | KIT – Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE)
- Linnéa Svensson | Greener Events Norway & GO Group (NO)
- Max Thinius | Futurneo (DE)
- Daniel Vollmer | AppSphere AG (DE)
- Maike Vossen | BSI – Federal Office for Information Security (DE) – new!
- Codruta Vulcu | ARTmania Festival (RO) – new!
- Martin Wacker | Karlsruhe Marketing & Event GmbH / DAS FEST (DE)
- Markus Wiersch | Karlsruhe Marketing & Event GmbH / DAS FEST (DE) – new!
- Vlad Yaremchuk | Atlas Festival (UA) – new!
- Mikolaj Ziółkowski | Open’er Festival (PL) – new!
Photo: YOUROPE member DAS FEST by Steffen Eirich
Accommodation
The special hotel rate we were able to offer expired by the end of September. Nevertheless, if you wish to be in the same place like speakers and team we recommend to book at this hotel:
ACHAT Hotel Karlsruhe City ****
Mendelssohnplatz | 76131 Karlsruhe | Germany
Hotel website | Phone: +49 (0) 721 37170
Arrival & Transport
The European Festival Summit will take place in Karlsruhe – in the very heart of Europe. We will meet in the creative quarter of the city in the southwest of Germany, at one of the main transport interfaces of European mobility. Excellent connections with various means of transport are available.
Closest train station
for national and international rail services:
- Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof (Central Station)
- Make use of the exclusive DB event ticket offer for our summit (climate friendly 1st or 2nd class travel within Germany)
Public transport
Public transport is included in your registration for the whole summit period. You will find a valid QR Code on your ticket.
Please keep in mind that our partner hotel is just four tram stops away from the summit location.
The regional public transport organisation is called KVV. They offer the KVV regio move App for schedules and more. Please download the app here.
Closest Airports:
- Frankfurt am Main (FRA)
- Stuttgart (STR)
- Baden Airpark – Flughafen Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden (FKB)
Photo: YOUROPE member Lowlands Festival by Bart Heemskerk
Disclaimer
The European Festival Summit is organized by YOUROPE (The European Festival Association) in cooperation with Karlsruhe Marketing und Event GmbH (KME) as part of our joint European project “3F – Future-Fit Festivals”.
3F is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
(Header photo: YOUROPE member Bilbao BBK Live Festival by Sharon Lopez)