The European Festival Association YOUROPE and Karlsruhe Marketing und Event GmbH (KME) drew a positive conclusion after the first European Festival Summit in Karlsruhe. Around 200 participants came to Tollhaus to discuss how they can make festivals fit for the future. The program which took place from 18th to 20th November proved to be relevant for the participants, who came from the festival industry and external fields such as event production, ticketing and digital services. Musician Rüdiger Linhof (Sportfreunde Stiller) provided a surprise.
YOUROPE’s Chairman Christof Huber called the European Festival Summit (EFS) “a big success” in its closing session on Wednesday afternoon. It had not been a given that the first edition of a conference would immediately attract 200 participants. “We have shown that smaller conferences that are well-designed ensure a more open exchange among participants,” he said. Sharing knowledge has always been one of YOUROPE’s core tasks and the EFS made a significant contribution to this.
The EFS also served as the final event for YOUROPE’s three-year “Future-Fit Festivals” (3F) project, which is co-funded by the EU and ends in December 2024. The KME had agreed to take over the management of the project before it began in January 2022. However, the fact that the city is home to the KME was not the only reason for organizing the EFS in Karlsruhe. Karlsruhe’s excellent connections, its central location in Europe and the presence of specialist institutions such as the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), which also contributed to the program, also spoke in its favour.
The approximately 200 participants came not only from the festival industry, but also from fields that work together with festivals, such as ticket providers, AI, the construction industry, cultural research, cultural promotion, the police, cybersecurity, Generation Z marketing and futurology. The participants came from more than 20 countries, including the USA and South Africa; the youngest participant was 22 years old, the oldest was 79.
YOUROPE general Secretary Holger Jan Schmidt also used the EFS to announce that the association, in close cooperation with KME, has been able to secure a further four years of EU funding. This means that the network can continue its activities to support the festival industry and even add some new ones.
In the panel program, delegates were able to learn, for example, how they can use AI for their events. In a staged debate, Daniel Vollmer (AppSphere AG) and Prof. York Sure-Vetter (KIT) shed light on the advantages and disadvantages of the software. Prof. Sure-Vetter’s conclusion: “You can use AI in many different settings. It’s not black, it’s not white – it’s a tool to use. And hopefully it’s a tool that can make festivals much nicer.”
In the well-attended panel “Quo Vadis, Festivals?”, journalist James Drury (IQ Magazine, UK) asked leading festival organizers Cindy Castillo (Mad Cool Festival, ES), Arnaud Meersseman, (AEG presents France), Eugenie “EJ” Encalarde (New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, USA), Mikolaj Ziolkowski (Open’er Festival, PL), and Christof Huber (Gadget Entertainment / YOUROPE, CH) about the future of the festival industry.
According to them, current challenges include extreme weather events such as storms and heavy rain, ever-increasing production costs, internationally successful headliners who prefer to play their own stadium shows instead of performing at festivals, rising fees for artists, and increasing marketing costs. “Our multistage, multigenre festival model is in trouble,” Meersseman noted. The young Generation Z target group behaves differently to older festival-goers and the industry needs to develop new strategies to reach them.
Possible solutions were presented by Gen Z marketing expert Julius Lutz (Promoplug, DE) in the session “Staying relevant”. “Gen Z wants bold and real,” he said. “There is not one Gen Z target group, but many different bubbles with different interests.” TikTok is the means to reach Gen Z, according to him.
The “Independent Festivals” panel brought together representatives from some of the best-known European festivals that are not part of a conglomerate like LiveNation: Achim Ostertag (Summer Breeze Open Air, DE), Marie Sabot (We Love Green, FR), Mikko Niemelä (Ruisrock, FI), Pavla Slivova (Colours of Ostrava, CZ) and Summit host Martin Wacker (KME / Das Fest, DE).
Moderator James Drury asked them about the challenges, but also the joys of being independent. They cited the fact that they could make their own decisions and control their own destiny without a “big boss” standing over them, as well as the cooperation with multinational companies, as advantages.
Other panels dealt with the question of whether festivals can be cultural heritage (the short answer: yes! ), how festivals can deal with ransomware attacks and bomb threats, what festivals can learn from futurologists, why Boom Festival (PT) is an absolute pioneer of festival sustainability, why music has such a strong emotional impact on us, how festivals can embrace sustainable, circular construction methods, the impact of large-scale events on society, how the EU supports festivals financially, the impact of extreme weather on outdoor events, and how Roskilde Festival (DK) actively motivates its visitors to imagine a more positive future.
Festival legend Eric van Eerdenburg answered questions in an interview about his long career and the future of Lowlands Festival without him. YOUROPE member Höme – Für Festivals also presented the results of the first joint Europe-wide survey of festival-goers.
The EFS also offered some interactive sessions. During an excursion to stage builder Megaforce in Weingarten near Karlsruhe, participants were able to learn more about the construction of the centerpieces of every festival. On an excursion to the PTV Group, they were able to test a VR demonstration that makes it easier to plan the last mile, i.e. the area immediately surrounding a festival.
In an interactive 4D Future Mapping workshop, participants built the festivals of their dreams and learned how to view festival grounds from all angles. In a workshop on event safety, delegates practised how to prioritize and deal with simultaneous threats such as a severe weather warning and a visitor with a highly contagious viral infection.
A surprise during the dinner event on Tuesday evening brought tears to the eyes of some delegates. KME and YOUROPE had invited guests to a three-course meal in the Hoepfner brewery’s bottling hall, which had been transformed into an atmospheric event location. This was only possible thanks to longstanding Das Fest partners Hoepfner, Crystal Sound and Megaforce.
What the delegates didn’t know was that Rüdiger Linhof, better known as the bassist of Sportfreunde Stiller, had prepared a performance by Ukrainian musician Maksym Chmyr. Chmyr is a pianist, singer-songwriter and founder of the pop band The Castle from Lviv. The musician streamed two songs live from his Ukrainian hometown, including Lean on Me by Bill Withers.
YOUROPE’s General Secretary Holger Jan Schmidt used the EFS several times to draw attention to the war in Ukraine. He said that YOUROPE will continue its support together with the aid organization Music Saves Ukraine for as long as necessary. He called on those present not to forget Ukraine and also to consider how they can support the country with their events.
Holger Jan Schmidt, General Secretary of YOUROPE added “I am extremely pleased with how the European Festival Summit unfolded. In a time when festivals face immense challenges, we managed to bring 200 people together in Karlsruhe to discuss the future of our industry and to outline pathways for navigating it. We knew we had put together a strong program, but from my personal experience and the outstanding feedback we received, I cannot praise our speakers enough for their brilliance.
Together, we succeeded in reflecting on ourselves while also thinking beyond our own horizons – exploring what drives us, motivates us, holds us back, and what we fear. I am convinced that by tackling these challenges collectively rather than individually, we are far better equipped to succeed. This spirit of collaboration was palpable throughout the entire Summit.
Being future-fit is a never-ending process because the future is always ahead. Let’s keep moving forward – together.
A special thanks goes to the fantastic team in Karlsruhe, who not only created a wonderful setting for the Summit in their hometown but also continue to be the strong support ensuring the facilitation of our European project “3F – Future-Fit Festivals.”
