European Festivals Association (EFA)

15/06/2026

Join us on 23 June for the next .eu Networking Session - EFFE and connect with festivals from across Europe and beyond. Expect:
💬 Conversations on programming, audiences & collaboration
💬 New connections across disciplines
💬 A head start on upcoming opportunities like European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists - EFFEA Call #5 and Perform Europe.

🔗Register: https://www.european-festivals.eu/events/festivalfinder.eu-networking-session-festival-makers-lets-connect

12/06/2026

🇵🇹 Cistermúsica's 34th Alcobaça Music Festival returns from 26 June to 31 July under the theme “Resurrection”. It is anchored in Mosteiro de Alcobaça, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and major reference of Cistercian Gothic architecture in Europe, and extends across multiple heritage venues in Alcobaça, nearby towns, and Lisbon.

Portugal’s largest classical music festival opens with Bach’s Mass in B minor and closes with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, gathering over 200 musicians on stage.
🔗Check the programme of our EFA Member and more details here: https://www.cistermusica.com/en

11/06/2026

☄️Perform Europe continues with a new edition! The 3rd Open Call supporting inclusive, diverse and green touring of performing arts will be launched very soon.

🤝Partnerships must bring together at least 3 partners from 3 Creative Europe countries to tour artistic works across 41 countries. Projects should address two key priorities: inclusion & diversity and the fight against climate change.

🔗Read more: https://www.european-festivals.eu/news/perform-europe-continues-third-open-call-launching-soon

The Perform Europe Consortium – IETM International network for contemporary performing arts, European Festivals Association (EFA), Circostrada Network, European Dance Development Network, Pearle Live Performance Europe and IDEA Consult – thanks the European Union for its continued trust and support.

10/06/2026

Ingolstadt, on the River Danube in Bavaria, is home to Audi's headquarters and the Audi Museum. From 26 June to 26 July 2026, the city hosts the Audi Summer Concerts - Audi ArtExperience, a month-long programme combining established artists and emerging talent.

The opening weekend features two outdoor concerts in Klenzepark. On 26 June, the Audi Wind Philharmonic launches the festival with a classical open-air performance. The following evening, the Baltic Sea Philharmonic presents Swanlake Reimagined, a fresh take on music inspired by swans.

The second weekend brings a new production of Purcell's Dido and Aeneasm combining Baroque music with choreography by the Flying Steps, blending seventeenth-century music with elements of urban dance culture and beatboxing.

Check the programme on our EFA Member website: https://www.audi.de/sommerkonzerte/de/programm/

📸Thorsten Brieger

10/06/2026

"This year once again, we choose to build bridges rather than borders." says Nicolas Berwart, Director of Les Festivals de Wallonie

To travel is to change one’s perspective. For the 2026 edition, Les Festivals de Wallonie present a wide-ranging musical journey under the banner of “Journeys”: movements across places and eras, but also inward explorations, still and contemplative.

The season begins in Brussels on 25 June and closes on 22 October in Charleroi, travelling throughout the Wallonia–Brussels Federation, from cities and villages to the countryside, in Namur, Mons, Liège, Saint-Hubert and Stavelot. Once again, it honours the Festivals’ fundamental mission: to bring music as close as possible to audiences, wherever they may be.

As the festivals unfold, the theme takes shape through classical, baroque, jazz or folk music from the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Bosnia and beyond. Check their website: https://www.lesfestivalsdewallonie.be/en-be/a-propos

09/06/2026

Your festival guide for June continues with a selection from across the EFA network. Explore what's coming in the second half of June and continuing into July, including Festival Arsana - Official Site🇸🇮, Festival Ljubljana🇸🇮, Stroom🇧🇪, Les Festivals de Wallonie🇧🇪, Festival di Spoleto🇮🇹, Piccolo Opera Festival🇮🇹, Cistermúsica🇵🇹, Audi ArtExperience Summer Concerts🇩🇪, and the centenary edition of Международен музикален фестивал “Варненско лято”/ Varna Summer Music Fest🇧🇬.
📖 https://www.european-festivals.eu/news/efa-monthly-digest-june-2026-part-ii

For festivals that started earlier in June or are just getting underway, revisit Part I 📖 https://www.european-festivals.eu/news/efa-monthly-digest-june-2026

Each month Simon Mundy highlights what is happening across the European Festivals Association (EFA)’s network, offering a glimpse of the many ways our community is active across Europe and beyond.

08/06/2026

🇸🇮 Summers in Ljubljana are always magical and, for 74 years, the Festival Ljubljana has been at the heart of it, welcoming visitors from near and far to immerse themselves in the arts.

Puccini’s Turandot, his final operatic masterpiece, marks the centenary of its premiere and opens the 74th Ljubljana Festival. The programme continues with world-renowned performers such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, pianists Yuja Wang and Khatia Buniatishvili, and leading Slovenian artists including Neisha, Miha Kralj, Vlado Kreslin, Momento Cigano Extended, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra / Simfonični orkester RTV Slovenija and Slovenska filharmonija - Academia philharmonicorum.
Opera and music theatre highlights include Evita, The Barber of Seville, and Piazzolla’s María de Buenos Aires, alongside symphonic concerts, ballet, jazz, and creative projects throughout the summer.

👉 Discover the full programme: https://www.ljubljanafestival.si/en/

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📸Opera Turandot, conceived by Filippo Tonon, with the Opera Balet SNG Maribor conducted by artistic director Simon Krečič.

08/06/2026

Piccolo Opera Festival: 18 June to 5 July, a 🇮🇹
"Freedom, my friends, is the only homeland worth having." – Lorenzo Da Ponte

Set among vineyards, historic villas, and places of memory, the 19th festival edition features five opera productions, alongside new creations and fresh interpretations of the repertoire.

In 2026, nearly two hundred years after his death, Da Ponte returns metaphorically to his “second homeland”: the city of Gorizia and surrounding region.
🔗Discover more & explore the full programme: https://www.piccolofestival.org/en/

05/06/2026

🇧🇪 Classical music, innovative sounds and inspiring encounters along the Scheldt Valley define Stroom 2026.
The festival begins on 18 June with Jef Neve's Your Flesh and Blood, a modern Passion with Vocaal Ensemble Reflection, B.O.X - Baroque Orchestration X, and An Pierlé.
As the sun sets on 19 & 20 June, percussionist DOMNIQmusic opens up unknown sonic worlds, blending instruments and electronics.
Other highlights include music theatre trio Les Âmes Perdues, electronic music duo schntzl, a musical visual narrative with Ragazze Quartet, wrapping up with storyteller and thinker Jeroen Olyslaegers in The Penultimate Carnival of the Animals.

🔗Festival website: https://www.festivalstroom.be/en/

05/06/2026

🇸🇮 From 13 June to 28 August, Festival Arsana - Official Site returns to Ptuj with more than 50 events featuring artists from Slovenia and beyond, including Joss Stone, Luka Šulić, New York Voices, and the Slovenska filharmonija - Academia philharmonicorum. Classical, jazz, rock, opera, pop and crossover projects will resonate across castle halls, monastery courtyards, streets and corners of Slovenia's oldest city.

🔗 Festival website: https://festivalarsana.com/en/home/