IMC’s festival 12 Points honoured as an exemplary European festival by EFFE

Improvised Music Company's European festival 12 Points has been selected from 715 festivals across Europe, and the only Irish based festival, to be one of 26 EFFE Laureates chosen for their exemplary work.

Created by IMC in 2007 as a means of building better relationships for Irish musicians with the European jazz scene, 12 Points is uniquely nomadic, moving between Dublin and other exciting, young European cities for each annual edition. The 2017 festival took place earlier in July in the Danish city of Aarhus. In September 2018 12 Points will return to Dublin to celebrate it's 12th edition.

A ‘mezzanine festival’ for promising young acts on their way to the next level in their careers, 12 Points is programmed each year by an open-call across the continent, engaging with emerging talent and local jazz scenes from London to Ljubljana, Bergan to Bari. Almost 500 acts apply to perform each year and the festival has gained a reputation for dynamic programming, 'discovering' the most exciting emerging acts and presenting a very curent sound of the new generation in European jazz.

The EFFE International Jury selected 12 Points from amongst the 715 Label recipients for their exemplary work and commitment to the festivals’ role in the arts and society. As an EFFE Laureate, 12 Points will be promoted by the European Festival Association throughout the summer.

These 26 festivals are in the run for the EFFE Award handed out on 18th September during the Arts Festivals Salon in Brussels, hosted by the Centre of Fine Arts – BOZAR.
In the coming weeks the stories behind these festivals will be revealed one by one on the EFFE website www.effe.eu.

Pawel Potoroczyn, chair of the final EFFE Jury meeting, is “delighted with the result which is representative for the whole EFFE Label list covering 39 countries. The geographical reach, diverse festivals’ scope and diversity in arts disciplines, as well as a strong social engagement, are reflected in these 26 EFFE Laureates celebrating the diverse festivals’ community all over Europe”.

The 26 EFFE Laureates (in alphabetical order) are:

12 Points, Ireland
Africtions - captured by Dance, Germany
Altofest International Contemporary Live Arts, Italy
ASALTO Zaragoza , Spain
Athens Digital Arts Festival , Greece
Bábkarská Bystrica TOUR - Double impulse, Slovakia
Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival, Cyprus
Edinburgh Festival Fringe, UK
Edinburgh International Festival, UK
European Film Festival Palic, Serbia
Festival of Five Churches, Hungary
Festival of Wonder, Denmark
FMM Sines - Festival Músicas do Mundo, Portugal
Gdansk Shakespeare Festival, Poland
Gender Bender, Italy
GOGOLFEST - International Annual Multidisciplinary International Festival of Contemporary Art, Ukraine
International Theatre Festival - Varna Summer, Bulgaria
Les Eurockéennes de Belfort, France
Mittelfest, Italy
Ravenna festival, Italy
Tallinn Architecture Biennale , Estonia
Tbilisi International Festival of Theatre, Georgia
TANEC PRAHA - The International Festival of Contemporary Dance and Movement Theatre, Czech Republic
Theaterfestival Boulevard 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Utrecht Early Music Festival, Netherlands
Walk&Talk Azores, Portugal

The EFFE International Festival Jury members are:

Sir Jonathan Mills (Chairman EFFE International Jury, composer and former Director Edinburgh International Festival – Australia, UK), Tamar Brüggeman (Co-Director Wonderfeel - Netherlands), Peter Florence (Director Hay Festivals – UK), Keng Sen Ong (Festival Director Singapore International Festival of Arts - Singapore), Haris Pašović (Theater director, Director East West Centre Sarajevo – Bosnia and Herzegovina), Pawel Potoroczyn (CEO of University SWPS in Warsaw - Poland), Renato Quaglia (General Manager FOQUS Foundation - Italy), Irene Rossi (Couleur Café - Belgium), Fruzsina Szép (Festival Director Lollapalooza Berlin and Board member Yourope - Hungary).
Find more details about the EFFE International Jury here.

EFFE is an initiative of the European Festivals Assocation co-financed by the European Union.

www.effe.eu