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Placements & Exchange

Open Call for Festivals

The Placements & Exchange Initiative, organized in collaboration with the European Festival Association (EFA), invites festivals and cultural organizations from all over the world to host international festival makers from The Festival Academy's diverse Alumni network by offering a placement within their teams.

Why Participate?

The goal is to foster meaningful exchange between our global festival networks. TFA Alumni applying for a placement/exchange will have the opportunity to enrich their skills through hands-on experience, while the host festival or cultural organization will benefit from the fresh perspectives of passionate professionals who will assist with ongoing projects. 

This exchange offers a true two-way learning experience. By hosting a festival maker, the host not only mentors emerging talent but also gains new approaches and ideas from a different geographical and/or cultural context, enriching their own festival-making practices. It also opens the door to future partnerships.

The Placements & Exchange Initiative promotes extensive cooperation, networking and career development opportunities through global collaborations.

Apply to be a host here before 25 March 2025.

Read more about the structure, requirements and timeline below.

Please do not hesitate to contact The Festival Academy team at info@thefestivalacademy.eu should you have any additional questions.

Structure

  • Placements can be online, in-person or have a hybrid format, depending on thee host organization capacities.
  • The content and timing of the placements are open-ended, but they should offer practical experience by working in the festival's production and/or artistic teams.
  • The minimum duration of the placement is one week.
  • For in-person and hybrid placements, the host organization should ideally offer accommodation, local transport, food/per diems and insurance. 
  • If the resources of the organization allow, TFA encourages to also cover travel expenses (total or partial) and to offer a nominal fee to the participant. 

Timeline

  • March 2025 - Festivals and cultural organizations register as hosts and create an outline for the available placement and exchange position(s).

  • April 2025 - TFA launches a booklet with the available placements and exchanche opportunities and opens the call for Alumni to apply.

  • End of April & May 2025 - Host organizations start the selection process and interview prospective candidates. Placements and exchanges are offered to selected Alumni applicants. 

  • As of May 2025 - Placements and exchanges take place.
Overview of TFA's global network, as of February 2025.

Who are the Alumni to be hosted?

TFA sustains and further develops The Festival Academy Alumni Network that unites more than 1000 festival makers from 100+ countries who took part in TFA's Ateliers for Young Festival Managers, Tailor-Made Ateliers, Festival Production Management Trainings, Ateliers for Solidarity or other TFA activities, such as the Online Ateliers. 

Examples

Previous editions of the initiative have led to inspiring collaborations worldwide. Here are just a few examples:

Apply to be a host here before 25 March 2025.

Testimonies from participants:

Click here to read a full diary report from Milena Janković (Atelier Elefsina-Beirut), written during her placement at the Festival Pianistico Internazionale Bartolomeo Cristofori 2021.

"This three-week placement was an invaluable learning experience. I felt so lucky that I experienced the festival from the inside and also enjoyed lots of the performances. Thanks to the team head's arrangement and trust, I felt very involved in the team and got acquainted with the workplace pretty quickly."

"I had the possibility to talk to a lot of artists that was truly interesting and inspiring."

"It was great to see what we had discussed in Module I of the Atelier in real life in Module II. It was a fantastic experience and a credit to the course on the whole. I could not recommend this structure any more! Everything we had discussed I saw first hand and Module 1 was a perfect introduction and prepared me very well, I feel."

"Creating a platform and offering placements to young production managers helps them grow more professional, gather experience and find inspiration in other (older) people/festivals so they can introduce improvements in their own festivals."

"Overwhelmingly exciting, challenging, exhausting, and as I now hope to pursue a career in this new direction... life-changing!" 

"This was the first time that I worked within a festival of such grand scale and it made me understand the importance of a good working system, communication, and leadership. It also made me realize my weaknesses and motivated me to improve in my future work."

"It truly was an incredible experience to work for a festival concentrating on a different medium - art, technology and society rather than performing arts which has been my primary focus until now. I gained a great appreciation and understanding for this field and the delivery of a program of this nature."

"It was an eye-opening and highly rewarding experience."

"I was able to expand my paradigms towards festival and event management. At the placement, I had the opportunity to learn from and know more Production Managers and artists around the world and also established connections that I believe would be mutually beneficial in the future."

"An inspiration that will guide me in the future as a production manager, to approach things in a whole new positive way."

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