The Winter School for Festival Managers
From February 29 through March 3, 2012, British Council Ukraine and the Goethe-Institut accomplished a Ukrainian first: a four-day training programme aimed festival managers and organizers in the national festival movement. Twenty-five participants – of 167 applications received – were chosen to participate, representing festivals and art centres from every region of the country. Here they exchanged their practical experiences in event management, and studied the best practices employed in festival management in Great Britain and Germany.
Programme content and structure was developed jointly by Abigail Carney from the UK and, from Germany, Eckhard Thiemann, both of whom are experienced and highly qualified in the field of festival management. The training component of the Winter School keyed on several aspects vital to a successful festival: mission and vision formulation, effective programme drafting, building partnerships and financing, working with an audience, planning and feedback to gauge effectiveness. Additional sessions offered participants the chance to become acquainted with successful organizers – and the festivals they run – from Great Britain and Germany. Video-conferences featured Joanna Baker from the Edinburgh International Festival, Scotland; James Waters, director of the Lammermuir Music Festival, held in northern Scotland; Linda Cerna, from the Tacheles Project, Berlin; and Christiane Lange, from Berlin’s Literaturewerkstatt.
On the evening of March 1, 2012, the School held a public discussion on the festival movement with a special emphasis on quality, in both Ukrainian and International festivals. Abigail Carney and Eckhard Thiemann were joined by successful directors of Ukrainian festivals Oleksei Kohan, art director of the Jazz in Kiev festival and Volodymyr Kaminsky, producer of the Alfa Jazz Fest. The panelists talked about a variety of subjects: the international standards that mark a successful festival, how to be the best in a competitive field, how to evaluate the quality of your festival, and the balance between quality and quantity.
The closing day schedule of the Winter School was a full one. Participants met with leaders in festival promotional media (thisisukraine.org), they heard a presentation of a festival model by the arts centre “Ostannya Barycada”, the spoke with representatives from the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, and learned about the work of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, “Development of Ukraine”. As the School drew to a close, participants followed the ‘open floor’ principle, taking their turn to choose topics for discussion. Small group sessions keyed on topics like sponsorships and working with donors, the necessity of a Festival Association to represent the interests of the cultural sector industry, working with volunteers, and a host of other subjects.
The time spent together sharing experiences and new understanding, and the fomenting a sincere desire to shake up the Ukrainian festival movement highlighted the Winter School. Moments that will stay with festival managers looking to implement European standards in their projects here in Ukraine.
For media enquiries please contact Volodymyr Sheyko, Communications Manager, at volodymyr.sheyko@britishcouncil.org.ua.
For more information contact:
| 
