An International Jury, presided over by Vincent Baudriller, Director of Théâtre Vidy in Lausanne, awarded Prague Quadrennial as one of the 12 of the most trend-setting European festivals of this year from a pool of 760 festivals from 31 countries.
The main criteria were Artistic Merit, Innovation, Internationality, Political Value and Sustainability.
The jury's decision was built on months of hard work by the hubs and experts who have pulled together a definitive list of their country's festival offerings, from world-renowned dates in the cultural calendar, to eclectic events known only to switched-on insiders.
The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space is the largest scenography event in the world that explores a wide range of scenographic practices – from stage, costume, lighting and sound design and new scenographic practices such as site-specific, applied scenography, urban performance and costume as performance. Its programmes for students and young professionals are an extremely important aspect of its programme, making it a vital gathering for young artists and designers.
Prague Quadrennial 2015 took place June 18 - 28, 2015 in over 60 indoor and outdoor places and venues in the center of Prague. It included over 600 live events and over 150 expositions during the course of 11 days and presented scenography, costume, sound, lighting and costume design work from 78 countries. Prague Quadrennial had 180 000 visits and over 6000 accredited professionals. Over 1300 students from all over the world took part in workshops and performances by students. Prague Quadrennial 2015 took place under the title SharedSpace: Music Weather Politics.
Since its initiative in 1952, the European Festivals Association has brought the importance of arts and culture to society's attention. The new programme EFFE, Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe, is a next step in the Asscociation's work. It brings together festivals that are deeply committed to the arts, their communities and Europe in a new and dynamic platform and honours them with the EFFE labels and EFFE Awards.
Complete list of awarded festivals: Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria), Festival d'Aix-en-Provence (Aix-en-Provence, France), BIG BANG (Antwerp, Belgium; festival takes place in 11 cities across Europe), Malta Festival Poznań (Poznań, Poland), Midnight Sun Film Festival (Sodankylä, Finland), Manifesta (Amsterdam, Netherlands; location of festival changes with each edition), NEXT (Lille, France/Kortrijk, Belgium (Flanders)/Tournai, Belgium (Wallonia)), Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival (Groningen, Netherlands), Perforations Festival (Zagreb/Rijeka/Dubrovnik, Croatia), Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (Prague, Czech Republic), Santarcangelo Festival Internazionale del teatro in Piazza (Santarcangelo di Romagna, Italy), SICK! (Brighton/Manchester, United Kingdom)
Czech festival with EFFE label are: Authors' Reading Month, Cheb Monodrama Festival (Divadlo jednoho herce), Concentus Moraviae International Music Festival of 13 Towns, Festival FORFEST CZECH REPUBLIC, International Festival of Contemporary Circus and Theatre LETNI LETNA Prague, International Festival of Outdoor Films, International Folklore Festival Strážnice and Folklore Festival Strážnice for Children, International jazz festival JAZZFESTBRNO, International Music Festival Brno, International music festival cesky krumlov, Krakonošuv divadelní podzim, Mala Inventura festival, MATEŘINKA, MIME FEST, Mladi Ladi Jazz, Prague German Language Theatre Festival, SIGNAL | Prague Light Festival, Smetana's Litomyšl International Opera Festival, TANEC PRAHA, The International Festival of Theatre Schools SETKANA/ ENCOUNTER, United Islands Of Prague, Vivid Street, Za dveřmi - international street theatre festival.