Kick-off of the 23rd Atelier for Young Festival Managers in Donostia/San Sebastián, in collaboration with dFERIA – Performing Arts Fair and Teatro Victoria Eugenia
From March 11 to 17, 2025, the city of Donostia/San Sebastián will host the 23rd edition of the Atelier for Young Festival Managers, organized by The Festival Academy, an initiative of the European Festivals Association (EFA), in collaboration with dFERIA – Performing Arts Fair and Teatro Victoria Eugenia.
The Atelier is a training and leadership program that brings together young arts festival leaders from around the world and across all disciplines (dance, theater, music, film, literature, etc.) for a 7-day immersive experience. During this time, participants will engage in discussions about the current challenges of the arts and festivals in an ever-changing world, as well as the role they can play in our society, with a particular focus on social change and cohesion.
Since its launch in 2006, the Atelier has been held in various cities across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and the SWANA region. This will be the first time that a global Atelier takes place in Spain.
The Atelier Donostia/San Sebastián 2025 will bring together 47 participants from 35 countries across all continents, including Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, England, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Iran, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Malta, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Palestine, Serbia, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain (including four Basque participants), Suriname, Taiwan, Ukraine, the United States, and Zimbabwe.
This edition will be facilitated by Vigdís Jakobsdóttir, theater director, educator, and former Artistic Director of Reykjavík Arts Festival (Iceland), and Thobile Maphanga, choreographer, writer, and curator of JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience (South Africa). Both will guide the group throughout the 7-day event.
Among the experts and mentors accompanying the process will be renowned figures such as Natacha Melo (Uruguay), Eduardo Bonito (Brazil/Spain), Priscila Santana (Brazil/USA), Marko Athisaari (Finland), Isabel Ferreira (Spain), Orwa Nyrabia (Syria/Netherlands), Ibrahim Owais (Palestine), Mac Andre Arboleda (Philippines), and Princess Sibanda (Zimbabwe/South Africa). Additionally, special guests will include Florian Borchmeyer (FIND Festival, Schaubühne Berlin), Ilona Goyeneche (Festival ADELANTE! Heidelberg), and Gerardo Salinas (KVS Brussels).
The Atelier is deeply rooted in the essence of festivals—art, artists, and audiences—and all topics covered during the training relate, in one way or another, to this core: why we do things, for whom, and with whom.
The training features an innovative facilitation process, including workshops, roundtables, games, physical work, working groups, intuitive activities that stimulate thinking, community engagement activities, reading circles, inspiring and thought-provoking keynote lectures, thematic lunches, cultural visits, and much more. Experience-sharing and networking are also central to the Atelier.
The Atelier rethinks leadership approaches and explores the essence and impact of festivals in a global context. It investigates how arts festivals serve as common spaces where people can come together, share new ideas and stories, foster a sense of belonging, and support community healing. Additionally, it explores how festivals can serve as platforms to advocate for social justice and make a broader societal impact by providing opportunities to experiment with and promote new ideas and social models, fostering public awareness and engagement on critical issues.
The Atelier provides time and space for a diverse group of minds to connect, think, and learn collectively, empowering future leaders through genuine human connections.
All reflections and discussions will take place in close connection with the local context of Donostia-San Sebastián, during dFERIA – Performing Arts Fair. The festival is intertwined with the Atelier, serving as a source of inspiration and discussion, allowing participants to engage with more than 800 performing arts professionals and experience local, national, and international performances featured in the festival.
Participants will also have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the socio-cultural life of Donostia-San Sebastián through experiences such as aurresku dance, a traditional Basque ritual, a visit to a traditional cider house, city tours, Basque pelota and txalaparta practice, and visits to cultural spaces such as Chillida-Leku and Tabakalera.
To foster the exchange between the cultural and festival sectors of Spain, Europe, Latin America, and other regions, and to provide bursaries for participants from underprivileged backgrounds, the Atelier receives key support from various international organizations, including Donostia Kultura, Open Society Foundations, Erasmus+ (through the project "Building Resilient Festivals: Leadership Training for European and Ukrainian Festival Makers"), the Network of Spanish Cultural Centers Abroad (Red CCE) under the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Culture Resource (Al-Mawred Al-Thaqafy), Culture Moves Europe, Goethe-Institut, and Arts Council Korea, among many others.