EUROPEAN FESTIVAL AWARDS
RECOGNISING THE INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF FESTIVALS
Ahead of the European Festival Awards 2025 at Eurosonic Noorderslag( ESNS) in January, organised by European festival association Yourope, Access caught up with its chair Christof Huber to discuss the event, and the key issues facing the festival industry in 2026.
Ahighly experienced live event promoter and festival operator, Christof Huber has been a board member of Yourope since it was launched in 1998 and has been its chair since 2021. The organisation currently represents around 130 festivals scattered across 26 countries.
The public voting for the 15th edition of the Yourope-organised European Festival Awards closed on 20 November, with festivalgoers responsible for selecting the winner of the main categories including Best Major Festival, Best Medium-sized Festival and Best Small Festival, as well as Line-up Of The Year and Newcomer Of The Year.
Meanwhile, a jury will decide who is to be victorious at the Groningen event in the other categories, including the Green Operations Award, Brand Activation
Award and the Take A Stand Award. Among the winners last year were Opener Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, We Love Green and EXIT Festival.
How important a role does the European Festival Awards have in bringing together European festival operators and celebrating success?
This annual gathering to celebrate the festivals and their important role in bringing people together ties into the general goal of Yourope, to connect the European festival family. By celebrating the festival scene we’ re also able to connect and share best practices across all sizes and forms of festivals. It’ s also very important to highlight the importance and significance of festivals as platforms in Europe. Not just as cultural spaces, but also as important voices in politics and society in general.
CHRISTOF HUBER
Especially, in a time of multiple crises and wars it is of the utmost significance to stand up for unity and discourse in a peaceful way through music and cultural events.
What element of the event do you find most enjoyable?
Meeting old friends and new across the industry and seeing what has
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