European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists #4

The European Festivals Association is calling for applications for the 4th round of the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists (EFFEA), which will support around 50 residencies taking place throughout 2026. Each residency involves at least 3 festivals from different countries that will take an emerging artist—whether an individual or a collective—under their wings.

EFFEA provides emerging artists the opportunity to explore their ideas and creative projects, whether original works or the evolution of existing ones, by providing them with dedicated time, space, and support. The EFFEA Fund defines emerging artists not by age but by their novelty to programmers and audiences and their potential for international breakthrough.

Eligibility

EFFEA Call #4 is open to all festivals and artists that fulfil the following conditions:

• Festivals exist for at least one edition and are registered on FestivalFinder.eu.
• Projects must fall within these artistic fields: Architecture, Ballet Contemporary Dance, Circus, Design/Applied arts, Digital arts, Film, Folklore and folk arts, Heritage, Interdisciplinary, Literature, Music, Opera, Street Art, Theatre, Photography/ Video, Sculpture, Painting.
• The leading Festivals and artists should have their official address in one of the following eligible countries: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, and Ukraine.

Residency categories

There are two residency categories:

• Discovery: Festivals support artists at the early stages of their careers but with a strong potential to break through internationally (approximately 40 grants of 8,000 EUR).
• Springboard: Festivals support artists already established in their own country, ready to develop their career internationally (approximately 10 grants of 15,000 EUR).

Residency proposal must include:

• Co-production by a leading festival + at least 2 partner festivals
• Training/mentoring/coaching, community outreach or other elements based on artist needs
• A workshop (live or online) hosted by the leading festival, with at least one programmer from each partner festival (for Discovery) or a live masterclass led by the artist at each festival (for Springboard)
• A work-in-progress presentation at the leading festival (for Discovery) or Final presentations/production results at each of the involved festivals (for Springboard)

EFFEA #4 application guidelines 

Deadline: 3 November 2025