EFFE - Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe has published the first EFFE Quality Label winners. After a rigorous evaluation process, first by national experts and finally by an international jury, 761 festivals from 31 countries have been selected as the first recipients. One of them is the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival.
EFFE is a portal launched by the European Festivals Association to bring together European festivals for audiences and professionals alike. In order to be awarded the label, festivals were judged on their artistic excellence, community spirit and international and global orientation.
“The EFFE Quality Labels 2015-2016 represent the first generation of EFFE-recognised festivals that represent a high level of artistry and have a significant impact at local, national and international level. The recipients represent 31 European countries and offer a wide range of genres and activities to their audiences,” said Vincent Baudriller, President of the EFFE International Jury, Director of Lausanne's Theatre Vidy and former Director of the Festival d'Avignon.
Kaustinen Folk Music Festival will take place this year for the 48th time on 6-12 July 2015. Thousands of artists and players from 20 countries will perform at the festival, including. Swedish top quintet Väsen (SE), vocal group Kongero (SE), mandolin group MANdolinMAN (BE), and the ultra-populist Jaron Freeman-Fox and The Opposite of Everything (CA), Huun-Huur-Tu (RU), a top Tuvan throat-song tradition, the ferocious fusion band Tribali (ML), the Finnish-Danish duo Mirja Klippel & Alex Jønsson (FI/DK), Trío Bordelestino (CL) and Baltic Crossing (FI/DK/UK). The festival will also feature groups from Switzerland, Vietnam, Belarus and other countries.