INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL AWARD GIVEN TO THE FIRST FESTIVAL
At an event in Brussels on Thursday, September 26, Førdefestivalen as one of five festivals, honored with the international EFFE AWARD. Among 800 festivals, a jury had selected 24 festivals for a final. Among these 24 festivals were two from Norway: Førdefestivalen and the Bergen International Festival. And Førdefestivalen was one of five festivals that came out on top in the awards, and received the most prestigious award, the EFFE AWARD 2019-2020.
About Førdefestivalen says the jury:
“ Førde Traditional & World Music Festival in Norway provides a remarkable example of excellence as well as artistic and curatorial integrity. July 2019 sees its 30th edition, Førde annually presents 300 artists in 90 acts across 30 venues in concerts, workshops, master classes, children's events and many other endeavours. It has been a winner of Songlines' best world music festivals worldwide and The Guardian's top 10 festivals in Europe. "
– Receiving such an award and the recognition it entails is absolutely fantastic. It shows that we are doing something right and that it is being noticed beyond Sunnfjord and Norway, says director Per Idar Almås, who was proud and happy to receive the award.
Also present at the award ceremony was the former director of Førdefestivalen , Hilde Bjørkum, who is now the municipal director for culture and sports in the new Sunnfjord municipality, and Ivar Svensøy, also a representative of the host municipality. The award was presented by jury member Farouz Nishanova (center in the first picture), director of the Aga Khan Music Awards and the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Switzerland.
The five festivals that received the EFFE AWARD 2019-2020 were:
· Conrad Festival , Krakow in Poland
· Festival Deltebre Dansa , Deltebre in Spain
· Førdefestivalen , Førde
· GogolFEST - Multidisciplinary International Festival of Contemporary Art, Ukraine
· Welcome to The Village , Leeuwarden in the Netherlands
The festival organization EFFE, Europe for Festivals Festivals for Europe, is behind this festival selection, and during the award ceremony it was emphasized that cultural cooperation across borders is more important than ever. The Bergen International Festival was also nominated for the award, and was among the 24 that received distinctions.
All photos: Lieve Boussauw