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Respected festival representatives from across Europe gathered in Brussels on 18 September for the Arts Festivals Salon and announcement of the 2017 EFFE Awards.

The General Manager of Tbilisi's International Theatre Festival agrees that there are probably easier places in Europe to run such an event.

The Five Churches of the festival title is a misnomer; there are actually four churches of different denominations (Serbian Orthodox, Catholic, Calvinist and Evangelical) and a Jewish synagogue - the Hungarian word 'templom' is more accurate.

At first sight one might wonder whether the Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB) is a festival at all – or even about architecture.

Ravenna is such an iconic place, and has been since the latter days of the Roman Empire, that it is surprising that it did not have a festival until twenty-eight years ago.

For most of the last five hundred years Sines has been best known as the birthplace of the explorer Vasco da Gama, the first European to find his way to India by sailing round the Cape of Good Hope.

It is rare for a theme to come first and then have a festival started to develop it. That is the case, though, with Gender Bender.

Asalto International Festival of Public Art began a dozen years ago with a group of young graphic artists who used to “do some 'vandalism' in the streets,” but who were more ambitious for their art and surroundings.

The EFFE jury said, “in a country with no tradition of contemporary culture... Gogolfest has a huge impact on Ukrainian society."

It was with just a touch of pride that Hervé Castéran admitted that, “we used to have a strong reputation as the muddiest festival in France”. Hervé is Communications Director of Les Eurockéennes and the comparison with Glastonbury is one that he relishes.

Africtions is neither the largest nor the most established festival on the menu but, if it continues along the way it has been going, it may turn out to have some of the most lasting benefits of any.

Often it seems to be true that the less likely the location, the more interesting and daring is its festival. This is certainly the case with Palić, a small lakeside town a few kilometres from the Hungarian border in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina.