FEST FORUM – Balance. Autumn Edition of the Festival Forum

4 October 2025

After its successful April inauguration, FEST FORUM returns in an autumn edition. On November 6–7, 2025, festival organizers from across Poland will meet in Krakow to jointly seek answers to the challenges facing the sector under the motto “Balance.”

A space for conversation and development

Potocki Palace will once again become a place for the exchange of knowledge and experience. The autumn edition will further develop the themes mapped out in the spring: work culture and the well-being of festival staff, cooperation with local communities, care for the natural environment, accessibility issues, financing, and long-term development strategies.

Participants will take part in industry workshops, including sessions on balance in the work of teams, cooperation with the social and natural environment, new funding models, and the latest legal changes, including copyright law and the Act on the Protection of Minors. An international context will be provided by a lecture by the European Festivals Association devoted to sustainable practices in Europe.

Debates for the industry and the public

FEST FORUM is also an open space for dialogue with the public. The program will include debates on the role of festivals — their potential as well as their social, economic, and environmental costs — with the participation of artists, activists, experts, and representatives of the authorities.

In the evenings, the Forum will be accompanied by concerts as part of the Sacrum Profanum Festival 2025, including an event prepared in cooperation with hcmf//, featuring Mariam Rezaei and Cath Roberts. The following day, Malediwy vs. Colin Webster/Borja Díaz and Marshall Trammell will appear on stage. FEST FORUM participants will be able to use a special discount on tickets.

A new online dimension

Thanks to support from the National Recovery Plan, the digital FEST COMMUNITY platform is being developed. It will gather materials, reports, and good practices, and will enable participation in online events. During the November FEST FORUM, public debates will be streamed live, and selected workshops will be repeated online in order to increase the accessibility and reach of the discussion across Poland.

The autumn edition is another step in building a festival community — open, aware, and ready to act in balance with people, place, and the environment.

Participant registration will take place from October 6 to 13, 2025, via the application form on the website www.festforum.pl. Participation will not be determined by the order of applications — the Program Council will make the selection, guided by the principles of inclusivity and care for diversity. The results of the selection process will be announced by October 17, 2025, at the latest.

Co-organization: Institute of Anthropology and Ethnology at Adam Mickiewicz University, Museum of Polish Song in Opole, SLOT Art Festival, Krakow Festival Office, National Centre for Culture, Institute of Creative Industries, European Festivals Association
FEST FORUM Program Council: Katarzyna Jakubowiak, Waldemar Kuligowski, Carolina Pietyra, Margarita Vladimirova, Jarosław Wasik, Aleksandra Zając
Partners: Hevre, ZAiKS, Zrzutka.pl
Host city: Krakow
Co-financing: National Recovery Plan and the European Union