" EFFEA | Call for two residency categories "
EFFEA | Call for two residency categories
EFFEA gives more than 50 emerging artists the chance to work with 150 festivals across Europe, offering a total of 23.000 EUR
Image: Breakreate on Unsplash
The next call of the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists (EFFEA) will open from 1 September to 3 November 2026. Use the momentum of this festival season to plant the seeds of your next collaboration. Come September, you’ll be ready to take the next step.
With EFFEA Call #5, the European Festivals Association will once again support around 50 residencies taking place in 2027, each bringing together at least three festivals from different countries to support an emerging artist or collective.
Full guidelines and application details will be published on 1 September 2026 here.
What is an EFFEA Residency?
EFFEA is a co-production residency scheme through which festivals join forces across borders to accompany an emerging artist in a process of creation and presentation. Artists explore their ideas, whether new works or the development of existing ones, while sharing their professional development needs with partner festivals. These are supported through dedicated time, space, and tailoured forms of mentoring, exchange, and collaboration. The aim is to move beyond a single invitation towards a shared artistic development journey, establishing lasting and meaningful connections between artists, festivals, and audiences.
Each supported project is built around:
- one leading festival working with at least two partner festivals (based in different eligible countries)
- one emerging artist or collective at the centre of the residency
- a combination of artistic development, mentoring, exchange, and audience engagement based on the needs of the artist(s)
- presentations or outcomes shared across the partner festivals
Two Residency Categories
1. EFFEA Discovery: Festivals support artists at the early stages of their careers with a strong potential to break through internationally.
2. EFFEA Springboard: Festivals support artists established in their own countries and ready to expand internationally.
INFO
AMOUNT
1. Discovery (€8,000 grant):
The residency proposal must include:
- A workshop (live or online) hosted by the leading festival, with at least one programmer from each partner festival
- A work-in-progress presentation at the leading festival
2. Springboard (€15,000 grant):
The residency proposal must include:
- Final presentations/ Production results presented in the framework of each of the festivals (minimum within the leading festival and 2 partner festivals)
- A live masterclass led by the artist(s) at each festival (minimum within the leading festival and 2 partner festivals)
APPLICATION DEADLINE
3 November 2026
ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES
ELIGIBILITY
Eligible Artistic Disciplines
The festivals and artists work in one or more of the following artistic disciplines: 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, Puppetry, Sculpture, Painting.
APPLICATION DETAILS
For more information and to apply, please visit EFFEA's official website.
NOTE
*The calls that are listed on our website are shared for informational purposes and are sometimes subject to change. Please visit the organization's official open call website for up-to-date information
DEADLINE
2026-11-03
TYPE OF SUPPORT
Public funding
FUNDING COUNTRIES
All EU Countries
WEBSITE
CONTACT
info@european-festivals.eu